President of the Chamber for Local Governance, Richard Fiadomor, has noted that despite the government's efforts to eradicate filth in the country's capital, Accra, illegal waste dumping continues to pose a major challenge.

Addressing the media on Wednesday, July 8, Richard Fiadomor mentioned the activities of tricycle operators, popularly known as "Aboboya," as a contributing factor to the increasing number of illegal waste-dumping sites in Accra and other major cities.

According to him these individuals dump waste at unauthorised locations instead of designated disposal sites.

"Some citizens who have used the services of these franchise companies have now 'quote and unquote' fallen in love with these Aboboya operators who are undercutting the prices of their services far less than the fee chosen resolution that has been approved by the assembly. So what do we see? We have seen that much of the waste is carried by these Aboboya collectors; unfortunately, they do not have what it takes to go to the long distances where some of the landfill sites are located.

"They take the waste, sometimes they find their way in the night when you and I are asleep, and they dump it anywhere and go back. Some citizens have decided to use the services of the Aboboya collectors, and once they're doing that, they are paying less…. they are okay with it. Those Aboboya people are now the ones creating the problems," he added.

The illegal disposal of waste has contributed to flooding incidents in Accra and some other regions.Ghana witnessed a series of flooding incidents on Monday, June 29, in parts of the Greater Accra Region and other regions following heavy rains.

The rains, which started late on Sunday, June 28, left commuters stranded, brought traffic to a standstill, resulted in the deaths of several individuals, and the destruction of properties.

While some victims managed to salvage a few belongings, many suffered devastating losses as floodwaters submerged their homes and properties.

The current death toll from the flooding incidents, as confirmed by the Ghana National Fire Service Public Relations Department, stands at 34.

The concerns have also heightened following recent flooding incidents in Accra, where several waste materials were seen being carried through floodwaters, raising questions about the impact of poor sanitation practices on public health and urban safety.

Meanwhile, a report shared by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) last year revealed a worrying statistic: about two million two hundred thousand households in the country face poor sanitation, overcrowding, and unsafe housing conditions.

Speaking at the launch of the report, the New Slums and Informal Settlements Thematic Report, on Monday, June 30, the Government Statistician, Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, noted that these individuals have established their homes in slums and informal settlements.

According to him, nearly one in three city dwellers in Ghana, representing about 4.8 million people, live in slums. He emphasised that other countries experience even higher rates of slum habitation, particularly within the sub-Saharan African region.

“Roughly 30.8 per cent of the urban population, or 4.8 million people, are living in slums, a ratio that exceeds the global average of 24.7 per cent but is lower than the sub-Saharan Africa average of 53.9 per cent.

“Additionally, 46.1 per cent of urban households, or over 2.2 million households, are living in slum conditions. That means nearly one in every two urban households is facing one or more of the four deprivations,” he added.

He indicated that many households in urban areas are living in environments that do not support proper housing and urban development.

The data revealed that the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions are heavily challenged by slum conditions, with Greater Accra recording 52.5 per cent and the Ashanti Region 51.8 per cent. The report noted that most of these dwellers live in rented accommodation.The other regions reported significantly lower proportions, highlighting a stark regional disparity.

“The Northern Region (4.2 per cent), followed by Savannah (3.6 per cent) and Oti (1.1 per cent), recorded the highest extreme slum intensities. By extreme slum intensity, we mean the proportion of neighbourhoods that exhibit all four slum characteristics in the region.

“But even in more developed regions like Greater Accra and Ashanti, over half of slum households live in rented accommodation,” parts of the report read.

The Service described the findings as alarming and called for a collaborative national effort to address the growing housing and sanitation challenges.

To check the rise in slum communities, the GSS called on local government authorities to implement targeted strategies within districts and municipalities.

In February this year, the Member of Parliament for Ahanta West, Mavis Kuukua Bissue, noted that sanitation issues, homelessness, and the proliferation of slums remain critical challenges undermining the health, dignity, and economic potential of citizens, particularly the youth.She cited inadequate housing, economic hardship, unemployment, poverty, and rapid rural-urban migration as contributory factors to the expansion of slums, homelessness, and streetism.

These challenges, she said, have also given rise to improper and indiscriminate waste disposal practices and the poor sanitation situation in the country.

“We cannot continue to downplay the severity of this challenge, seeing the very danger it poses to our survival as a people,” she noted.

Honourable Bissue proposed a national dialogue on rural-urban migration and economic empowerment, deliberations on housing and urbanisation strategies for rural communities, a national drive on proper waste segregation and disposal, public-private partnerships, the provision of labelled litter bins in designated areas and public spaces, and the strict enforcement of sanitation laws, among others.