A recent visit by Today to the Agbogbloshie Market in Accra revealed a very alarming situation, which if not addressed, could pose serious health hazards to traders and consumers who patronise the market.
Agbogbloshie market may be one of the most visited markets in the country and for that matter the Greater Accra Region. People living around the market area and consumers, who patronise foodstuff like onions, fresh and smoked fish, cassava dough and tomatoes, risk contracting diseases such as malaria and cholera.
This, Today gathers, is in the wake of heaps of garbage consuming the market each passing day. The surroundings of the market, especially where yam, plantain, tomatoes and other vegetables are sold, were so dirty and emit a very bad odour.
The unpalatable stench and the sight of the refuse has become a breeding haven of birds, mouse, insects and flies which have been competing with human beings for space and foodstuff. Furthermore, Today observed that the stench emanating from the gutters of the market and the leaches that are discharged from the wastes were so intolerable. Virtually all the drains in the area have been turned into final waste dumping sites where urine and faeces are thrown into them.
The contaminated smell fills the air that often deters the public from patronising the place and also makes by-standers hold their noses anytime the go to the market.
The rubbish attracts all kinds of flies and birds while food vendors and traders ply their day-to-day trade around the heap of the rubbish.
A plantain seller, Madam Esther, told Today in an interview that the refuse bins/containers at the place were regularly not emptied and often left there for several weeks — a situation, she explained, gives the market women no option than to dump their waste refuse on the floor.
According to her, waste refuse sometimes stay in the refuse bins for more than a week. “They leave the rubbish at the end of each working day. The stench, flies and mosquitoes are unbearable and sometimes drive our customers away. However, we manage to endure the stench despite the health hazards it pose,” the market women lamented.
Another trader, Madam Rose Kondua, noted that “this is a very busy market but when it rains people cannot come to this market because the place becomes so flooded.
To this end, she appealed to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to help provide enough waste bins for the market.
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