By Muntaka Chasant | 357 words | Reading time: 1.5 min
Ghana is facing a severe environmental crisis. How would you tackle environmental pollution in Ghana?
Jamestown, Accra, Ghana. Photo Credit: Muntaka Chasant/atcmask.com/3 October 2018
See also: Videos and Photos of Agbogbloshie, Ghana
The AirMask & Textiles Company Ltd, on 1 November 2018, donated1 anti-pollution face masks to a section of the residents of Jamestown, a district near the center of Accra, Ghana's capital city.
The ATC Masks are to help minimize their exposure to particulate pollutants from anthropogenic activities.
Jamestown, Accra/1 November 2018
Several studies, including the work of Kathie Dionisio, and other researchers2, have noted Jamestown as one of the areas with worst particulate pollution in the Greater Accra Region.
Air pollution is linked to more than 28,000 premature deaths in Ghana every year, with Accra and other urban areas worst impacted.
Jamestown is surrounded by several sources of particulate pollution, including the use of wood-burning fish smokers along its coastline, rubbish fires, and toxic smoke from the Agbogbloshie e-waste dump.
Open burning inside the premises of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana's Premier Healthcare Facility/Photo Credit: Muntaka Chasant/atcmask.com/10 March 2018
Local livelihood strategies such as the use of biomass fuel for fish smoking, the "urban mining" of copper and other rare earth metals at the Agbogbloshie e-waste dump, and the use of scrap tires to singe livestock for food, may be substantially contributing to the high mortality and disease burden attributable to air pollution in Accra.
We hope to continue to support households in Jamestown and similar communities in other developing countries to minimize their exposure to air pollution.
Photo Credit: Muntaka Chasant/atcmask.com/1 November 2018
Photo Credit: Muntaka Chasant/atcmask.com/3 October 2018
Agbogbloshie, Ghana - A short film
See also: Air Pollution Killing More People in Ghana
See also: "A Quick Glimpse of Ghana's "Sodom and Gomorrah" Slum
See also: Videos and Photos of Agbogbloshie, Ghana
Please leave your comments below, and let us know what you think!
Sources
1. http://www.ghananewsagency.org/health/members-of-jamestown-receive-anti-air-pollution-masks-140970 (Retrieved November, 2018) ↩
2. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/es903276s (Retrieved November, 2018)↩
Comments (3)
By this time we should have new and effective ways of smoking fish. Government (and o say government because it’s the institution that controls the resources of the country) should have commissioned our institution of higher learning as well as research organisations to look into smart devices that uses electricity or gas. These devices should be distributed to the fish industry role players to improve on their operations and to minimise the hazards. This is doable so we must do it. The private sector can come in (where there no market failures) but government must lead the way.
Thanks for the comment, Joseph.
You are correct. A simple kiln could help reduce their exposure to the smoke. We are working with a local kiln maker on this. We hope to demonstrate some of the maker’s designs to a section of the community in Jamestown, Accra, in the coming weeks.
Thanks again for your comment.
Regards,
Ellis M.
ATC MASK Support
When I was living in Ghana this was obvious to me. The burning of waste is definitely a reason. On the other hand I would never deem the people of Jamestown responsible. They are working hard to make a living and burning waste for copper, or charcoal for cooking is part of that. The Ghanaian government should make this obsolete. The Ghanaian government and nobody else should invest in waste processing without charging the Ghanaians for it and furthermore should Invest in solar energy. A country with that much heat, with that much sun can easily live on renewable energy. Another solution is to use solar stoves, and again, given the situation of the people of Ghana, these should be provided by the government along with training how they are to be used. Last and not least Ghana should stop being a dump for used cars from other countries. I often had to shower after a taxi ride, just because the exhaust. I am certain that some Korean or other far Eastern country can deliver affordable small cars with low impact so that the Ghanaian taxi drivers can continue making a living. And if the government would make sure that the water running from the tabs would be of good quality then the sachets would be obsolete, with as a consequence less plastic to burn and better air quality! Ghana you have everything, you can do it!