Burst Sewage Pipe Spills Waste

A major sewage pipe at the Tema Community One Market burst yesterday, spilling out waste which posed health risk to residents. The sewage pipes carrys waste from nearby residential facilities through the main market into the sea. The facility was constructed during the Nkrumah era but it has not seen any major repairs in the last 50 years. When the Daily Graphic arrived at the scene, near the Accra main trotro station, some traders were seen cleaning the spillage, while others were salvaging their wares. The traders poured gallons of disinfectants to disinfect the areas affected by the spillage to help deal with the overpowering stench that had engulfed the area. TMA officials react When contacted, some officials at the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) confirmed that the system ought to have undergone routine maintenance but that had not been done. In an interaction with the paper, some traders said occasional bursts exposed them to the stench emanating from the sewerage and diseases. Madam Akua Mantey, a trader complained that the sewage pipes occasionally burst, adding that pleas to the metropolitan assembly to help rectify the situation had not yielded any result. �We need help. This waste will kill us,�� she said. Recall Recently, the Tema branch of the Convention People�s Party (CPP) issued a statement in which it painted a gloomy picture of the state of sanitation in the port city. The CPP alleged that many homes were getting flooded with faecal matter and some manholes were spewing human waste, a situation that had become �a source of worry and causing many to have sleepless nights�. According to the statement, some residents were complaining of respiratory problems as a result of the heavy stench emanating from the broken-down sewerage systems in Tema. The statement called on the TMA, Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing and the Ministry of Health to, as a matter of urgency, investigate the issues the party had raised with a view to finding a lasting solution to them.