A WALK SURVEY ON A SECTION OF TEMA NEW TOWN BY ABIBIMAN FOUNDATION

A SURVEY ON A SECTION OF TEMA NEW TOWN ( FROM THE BRIDGE THROUGH THE   COMMUNITY TO LUBE OIL)  

         On Friday 13^th June we (Abibiman Foundation) took a walk through Tema New town just to observe the problems the people in the community are faced with. Tema New town is located in the industrial part of Tema (Tema East). The people there are usually fishermen, fish mongers, petty trader and fish sellers. Majority of the people in the community are illiterates whiles others have little education with a few having a attained a greater height in education. It is not a developed community and it is flaunt with problems identified are outlined below.

        First of all, I have observed that there is rubbish all over the community. The community is filled with filth and the refuse dump is just a stone throw from homes. People just litter around and are not conscious of the filth they create. Among their refuse the dominating waste is rubber. Dustbins are really had to come by in the community but I noticed few sacks and bucket used in some homes as their rubbish bins. This issue of sanitation is a pressing one because it comes with health problems as well. Cholera, typhoid and diarrhea are some diseases that can be contracted from such an unclean environment. At its worst, these diseases can cause the death of members of the community.

       Secondly, the issue of drainage was of much concern to me. There was no proper drainage system in the community. A gutter was had to come by making walking in the community unbearable if it rains,the roads leading through the houses were not tarred but was muddy, full of pot holes with rain water collected in it making movements within the community difficult. In front of homes were stagnant rain water filled with waste. From my observation I could tell that that pool of water has been there for long with larvae formed on the surface of the water and members of the community keep adding more liquid waste to the stagnant water filled with waste in front of their homes. This breeds mosquitoes leading to the wide spread of malaria. If there should be a heavy down pour of rain,there would be no doubt that the precious lives of people would be in great danger; there would be flood claiming lives as well as destroying properties.

         Also, settlement pattern of houses are in no definite order. Houses are clustered and there are no house numbers for identification. This makes it difficult for locating homes in the community. In case of any fire outbreak it would spread quickly among the houses due to proximity of houses and the fact quiet a number or the houses are constructed with wood. The arrangement pattern will make it difficult for the fire service get within the community to fight fire in case of an incidence due to the cluster of houses.

         In addition, I observed that the people in the area have little education. As at 11:45 when children are supposed to be found in school, most of them in this community were loitering around, playing while others were in front of stores selling.

         Finally, air and noise pollution are challenges I think are beingfaced by the community. The community is close to the industries so there is heavy noise made by machines and also a lot of waste gas products are release into the atmosphere. Stench from the refuse dump and stagnant water mixed with refuse also makes it difficult to breath in fresh air. Inadequate toilet facilities also cause people to defecate in the open, polluting the air.

The above problems should be addressed in order to safeguard the lives of the people and also improve upon their livelihoods. Below some suggestions I have come up with so that some of the problems could be addressed.

·         The people residing in the community should be sensitized through educating them on the dangers associated with filthy environment; they should be advised to stop littering, creating artificial stagnant water and also encouraged to engage in communal laboroften.

·         Abibiman Foundation can also help with the sanitation problem by assisting them with tools such as shovel, standing brooms, dustbins, wheel barrow to encourage them work together towards keeping a clean community.

·         Abibiman Foundation together with the assembly man should push forward the issue of constructing drains to reduce the creation of stagnant water and flooding during the rainy seasons in the area.

·         A seminar should be organized in the community to draw the attention of parents on the benefits of education and to encourage their wards to attend school especially at the primary and JHS level since it is free.

·         Majority of the waste created is rubber and since rubber cannot decay, it could serve as a source of employment for idle people to engage in the rubber collection in bulk and sell it to the plastic industries who will recycle it in producing plastic bowls,dust pans, buckets, barrels and many others. In the seminar which would be organized more light should be shed on this to enlighten people make use of this opportunity to help them earn a living.

                       In all, I hope the above suggestions to the problems would be helpful in dealing with the problems identified above for the people of Tema New Town.

Kenneth Nana Amoateng
Abibiman Foundation-http://www.abibimmanfoundation.org
International Day of African child and Youth(IDAY-GHANA)- http://www.iday.org/
P.O.BOX BT 1 Tema
Flat 1/A 74 Site 3
(OPP T.DC),Commmunit 1
Tema-Ghana/African
Tel#  233-0303-213918
Mob:233244023651
kamoateng@iday.org
amoatengken@gmail.com
skype:kenneth.nana.amoateng
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