The sanitation situation at the Shama Apo beach in the Shama District of the Western Region, which could be one of the hubs of tourism in the region, is extremely deplorable.
A recent visit to the area by DAILY GUIDE revealed that the beautiful sandy beach has virtually been turned into a rubbish dump. It was also revealed that the beach has been engulfed in human excreta due to alleged open defecation and indiscriminate disposal of waste, particularly, plastic ones.
At the time DAILY GUIDE visited the beach, some children were seen defecating at the beach but ran away when they realised that people were gazing at them.
Some of the residents attributed the problem partly to the fact that there are not adequate waste disposal facilities and places of convenience in the fishing community.
They claimed that the condition has compelled some residents to practice open defecation and dispose of their solid waste at the beach. They, however, admitted that there were many diseases that the people along the coast are affected with, like typhoid and cholera as a result of the poor sanitary condition at the beach.
“So we believe that when the beach is clean, it will go a long way to help the community because of the tourism potential in our area,” they noted.
Some of the residents asked the District Assembly to put in place by-laws to deal with people who deliberately indulge in acts that could lead to the outbreak of diseases in the area.
Most of the fishermen declined to speak to the issue when DAILY GUIDE approached them. However, those who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed that the filth at the beach were in the sea and were brought to shore by the sea waves.
Speaking to DAILY GUIDE, the Chief Fisherman of Abuesi near Shama, Nana Konduah, attributed the problem to stubbornness on the part of the people.
He said he could not fathom why the people continue to dump refuse and defecate at the beach after incessant education and sensitisation programmes organised in the area on the dangers associated with the negative practices.
He promised to meet with the chief fisherman at Shama Apo to discuss more on how to end such negative practices at the beach. “I assure that if you visit the area again after one or two months, you will see massive improvement in terms of sanitation at the Shama Apo beach,” he pointed out.
He also appealed to fishmongers and people doing business at the beach to do well to comport themselves and help ensure that the beach is also clean.
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