This is not a political post, I am creating this sarcastically but as a sustainability professional and environmentalist.
The write-up will review the context of the scenario and glance at the issues of the task before offering sustainable and extra appropriate approach that should really have been.
This project was by honourble Mrs Ursla Owusu Ekuful Minister of Communications and Member of Parliament for the Ablekuma West Constituency and spearheaded by honourable Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng who is the Minister for Setting, Science, Technological know-how and Innovation. According to Mrs Ursla Owusu, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng is the main architect of the ‘floating bridge’ challenge.
The Bridge was to connect two communities exactly where the men and women of Shiabu Stay. The Bridge was built about the Chemu River. But that matter is truly just smelly ‘gutter’ h2o. There are no edible fishes in that river for your data. It does not assist biodiversity in anyway.
The Bridge was promoted as 1st of its variety with the impressive means of it elevating its legs when it sees drinking water coming in direction of it. If the bridge was a woman it will increase leg and its skirt also.
The Shiabu local community is a normal slum with folks dwelling in some level of poverty
The large quantity of plastic squander you see in the photo and that engulfs this location is mainly not from the group. About 90% is from upstream as it rides the waves of flood waters into the sea. The community customers may possibly be building fewer than 10% of the plastics but that is all they see each day.
So evidently when the Floating Bridge was carried out, they did not notify the bridge about the amount of plastic waste and the power of flood waters that it has to be raising its leg in excess of. The Bridge also did not get the memo from the Ghana Meteorological Division about the weighty rain that was coming.
So that Bridge was having a nap on this trustworthy day when it obtained the shock of its daily life. It was really like at very first sight. Brothers and Sisters, the Floating Bridge Floated Absent on Sunday with joyous applause and celebrations from people who I believe that have been starved of any authentic entertainments over some time due to the lockdown.
So let me talk to a few inquiries and allow me offer some handful of strategies as an environmentalist and sustainability skilled
How much was spent on this undertaking? Floating Bridge was constructed in January 2020 and floated away in April 2020. How prolonged was it meant to very last before the lasting one particular was built? Didn’t they know the rains and floods had been on us?
How does a full Ecosystem, Science, Engineering and Innovation Minister check out a local community with large stages of just about every type of environmental air pollution just to develop and start a floating Bridge and go again to his office environment?
The bridge started to hold significant plastics and the inhabitants started off to become alarmed and it was released by media houses. What was finished about it? So evidently the chief architect did not know that the Bridge will keep plastics and did not have any short, medium or extended term strategy to have the plastic squander removed from under the bridge? Keep in mind this govt suggests they take into account plastic waste as a source for country building and not as squander.
Did they genuinely do a have to have evaluation? I imply did they collect knowledge on how substantially tons of plastic squander arrives by way of the river consistently? Did they consider about the wave and ability of the flood waters that arrive storming down that river? I suggest that significant trench of polluted drinking water? The ministry has been there for a even though. Same for the dilemma so they really should have identified should not they?
Even just before they began this undertaking they need to have recognised it will get carried away by flood if prevalent perception was being utilized at minimum or?
Community customers especially young ones could have been carried absent in that catastrophe and men and women may possibly even have died.
Is there a flood defense and resilient program for these communities? I indicate what plans are there to safeguard members of these communities in opposition to the impact of the major air pollution and flooding in this group and its impact on their economic, social, cultural and every day dwelling?
WHAT Should BE Performed? The Sustainable Technique:
The tons of plastic squander that will come via that river has economic value for the group. I know this due to the fact those of us who operate projects in the squander management worth chain do Plastic Waste Obtain-Back Plans. Work can be produced for community members through partaking them on this project. They will change to own the undertaking
I know there are youth in the neighborhood with revolutionary minds who can be engaged to create recycling and up biking tasks in the group to advantage local community users straight and produce entrepreneurship springboards for these types of youth
Assuming the Bridge was for the small phrase which could be 6 months to a calendar year, the engineers really should have identified that when you make bridges you acquired to make way for the h2o to go or it will obtain its have way. What was the aim of blocking the waterway and having plastics choke the bridge without the need of having a prepare to collect the plastic squander?
The Minister of Ecosystem, Science, Technologies and Innovation is meant to be partaking the Minister of Drinking water and Sanitation and partnering the district assembly dependable for that area to produce a far more sustainable remedy that saves us all funds. People in these communities are battling to make finishes fulfill and they must not be subjected to anything at all a lot more that relates to wastage of cash. They would have been far better off becoming offered that cash
It is essential for us to appear at tasks a lot more broadly and sustainably when coming up with them. We have to appear at the environmental, social, financial, cultural, fiscal like other impacts of every single undertaking like ‘Accra Cleanest City in Africa by 2020’ agenda and make certain that assignments are not making additional complications for communities. We need to be gaining extra from this sort of projects for the revenue remaining expended on it. How a lot was spent on the floating Bridge again? Properly the Bridge has floated away. I wished it was nevertheless below so I can listen to straight from the horses possess mouth. The two ministers ended up making an more squander to increase up to the currently enormous waste burden we have. But these are the persons meant to be foremost the sustainable modify.
About the creator :
Makafui Awuku is an environmentalist, author and artist. He’s founder and CEO of Mckingtorch Africa, a social company which converts squander resources into handy solutions.
