COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION ENCOURAGEMENT IN MUNICIPAL WASTE MANAGEMENT IN LEDZOKUKU-KROWOR MUNICIPALITY

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION ENCOURAGEMENT IN MUNICIPAL WASTE MANAGEMENT IN LEDZOKUKU-KROWOR MUNICIPALITY

 

      The Municipality of Ledzokuku-Krowor in Ghana district has been establishing Municipal Waste Management alternatives since then to cover their area with disciplinary activities to eliminate health hazard and to promote cleanliness within the community. The assembly and the Local Government Act 1993 462 will carry this executive functions that includes Provision sound sanitary and health environment and provision of public safety and comfort that is related to management in solid waste in their area in LEKMA.

      This project is closely monitored by Waste Management Department and Municipal Public Health Department that is the agency that safeguards the public health; their program also includes the participation of people within the municipality to volunteer in their performance about sanitation of the environment. The role of the Municipal Health Department and Waste Management Department is to ensure that the solid waste is properly disposed; they are also responsible for cleaning the streets and public areas.

       Sanitation may include environmental health and promotion units or organization, food and water sanitation, drug and hygiene safety, environmental and management unit. To be able to initiate such tasks all of these organizations are needed entirely through their responsible cooperation and social function. They will also need the support of public and private stores, day care centers, schools, community residence, laborers and farmers. To be able to be fully successful they need the participation of the whole community who are aware of their community problem in solid waste management. They are not required much of the activity to engage their time to visit the Public Health Department frequently but they are allowed to be trained the fundamental objectives of the Municipal Waste Alternatives usually they need to perform their newly acquired knowledge in their area.

      Discipline is its prime concern in participation. Store and market stalls will need to clean their surroundings and be able to segregate their waste from bio degradable and non-biodegradable so that truck collectors will not have a hard time segregating them in locations and it can be easily disposed to the dump-site. The community residence from various villages will have a larger participation because they include a larger volume of people; the municipality only asks for is that they do not throw their garbage in restricted areas or everywhere but only on areas that are authorized.

      Through these actions the waste disposal and health hazard will be eliminated, the community should continuously exercise such participation that will help their community. Another important sector is the industrial plant production and hospitals who has so much chemicals, they must dispose their materials properly, some products should not be disposed entirely but needs incineration before disposal to reduce or limit the creation of chemical reaction in the environment. The industrial sector should not liter to the environment in disposing their waste and chemicals to illegal dumpsites and waterways, rivers and lake which is often seen to violate and poison marine animals.   

      They are also provided a funding for machineries and vehicles for government used even before recent years but waste management has always been a challenge in their community since many people still do not cooperate in their proper disposal. There are many drains that are still clogged, there are still many bodies of water that continuous to be polluted and there are many houses that have so much garbage that are being burned in their backyard. The community participation of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle or 3r’s promotion has not yet been popularized to the community although some are doing it, this program will eliminate the use of plastics and other materials to pollute the environment.

      There are also households that may refuse collection of thrashes for some reasons, usually because of crude dumping and burning at their backyard which is an illegal means of disposal this can create so much pollution that degrade the air, land and water. In various schools in LEKMA students are taught to properly throw their thrashes to the waste bin and some big items must be dispose to the bigger community trash cans. Some of their residences are encouraged to use or establish their own toilets at home so that they don’t need to defecate anywhere. Some residences are also performing slaughtering of animals in the beaches or lakes and rivers that can aggravate their waters so they are prevented about this activity.

     In most areas of LEKMA including Teshie Nunga, Estates Sangonaa and Kwashie Man and other places has not shown much participation within their community. The Health Management and the Community Waste Management has a lot of job to do to encourage the participation of the community to fully exercise and achieve the weak performance of people in safety and health and in waste management.

    

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