One level playing field of all human beings: when we wake up in the morning, we ‘go’. That is just the way it is! King/Queen or slave, president or citizen, CEO or labourer, man or woman, rich or poor, adult or child, city dweller or villager, citizen of developed or underdeveloped country – on waking up, nature makes its grand and often urgent and relentless calls. Who are you not to respond to the all-important calls?
The fluids we drink and the food we eat all must come out a different route from how they entered after the body has digested and taken needed nutrients. If only all the stuff we load in stayed inside! I love banku and tilapia; can’t have enough of it. But after enjoying it, there must be an exit; the foul genie must get out of the bottle. Once the genie exits, it must stay outside.
It is in the response to the calls of nature to let out the stinky genie that we see the differences between the haves and the have-nots. The privileged just slide into comfortable rooms that are fit for others to sleep in, and simply let go, uninhibited – no drama. But for the many under-privileged, responding to the critical calls of nature presents challenges beyond measure – amidst high drama.
That is where we fail as a country. The toileting habits of our 51 year old country make a fail grade. Unsanitary toileting habits kill. Decent toileting should not just be for the privileged; it’s a human rights issue.
Figures released at a recent press conference of the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) put this nation to shame. Only an estimated 10% of Ghanaians have access to sanitary latrines/toilets. This implies that as many as 90% of our people don’t ‘go’ well. They eat all right, but the exit is by disgusting and shameful means.
The reality of our present latrine situation places us as far back as 1896 when Mahatma Gandhi, in recounting the grievances of Indian untouchables said: “‘Latrines for us!’ They exclaimed in astonishment. ‘We go and perform our functions out in the open. Latrines are for you big people.’” That in this century, a large majority of our people still go and perform their functions out in the open is uncivilized, nauseating and unconscionable!
Consider the following mathematics of national bowel movements. At a very low conservative level, if each of our 22 million people makes an average of four bowel movements per week, that puts us at an estimated 4,576,000,000 (rounded to 4.6 trillion) national bowel movements per year. Beyond the numbers, just imagine the sheer volume of the estimated 4.6 trillion bowl movements! Never mind. Nasty!
Out of this number, if only 10% have sanitary places to go, then a whopping 4.1 trillion bowel movements occur at unacceptable, unhygienic and uncivilized places throughout the country. These sites of unhygienic defecation include public and shared toilets, bushes, beaches, gutters and road-sides.
Black polythene bags are the usual suspects; they easily become the carriers of choice as some people have excelled in the act of loading and tying up their faeces to throw away indiscriminately. These packages are knick-named ‘night-rider’ or ‘take-away.’ Step and slip on one and see; the gooey stuff could rupture upon the exertion of pressure to spit Ghana’s disgrace all over you! They choke gutters too!
Some heady landlords are known to convert toilets into living quarters to increase rental space and monetary gains. The decentralized governments have bye laws on their books against this practice. However, rarely are these violations of the law enforced.
Beyond the home setting, another site where toilets should be in unapologetic state is the workplace. However, even some so-called prestigious organizations have nothing but scary rooms that are too unhygienic to be called places of convenience.
Those who live in houses without toilets and are fortunate to work in organizations with toilet facilities hold their stuff in as long as is humanly possible and carry to work. So what happens if these individuals can’t hold it long enough? They resort to the toileting practice of choice of many – Ghana’s shameful little black plastic bags. This practice puts a major wrinkle on our civilization.
How about those without homes? This teeming band of ‘homeless’ join the ‘take away’ disposers. Open defecation is not just prevalent in villages; it’s right under the glare of the city lights of Accra, Kumasi and Sekondi/Takoradi. It occurs in all the ten regions. It is however most widespread in the three northern regions where more than 70% of people have no access to any form of latrines. So of course, the key sites of choice are bushes.
A toilet is called different things by different people. In the English language alone, a few of the printable names are: small, bathroom, private, loo, potty, throne, john, restroom, washroom, commode, latrine or lavatory. A toilet is a class/status differentiator; the reality of the haves and the have-nots quickly translate into toilets. It is perfectly right to wonder when you see someone behaving as if they are all-that, how they ‘go’. Fact: some ‘go’ cosy, some ‘go’ awkward; some ‘go’ decent, some ‘go’ filthy.
There is also the matter of improper disposal of the privileged 10% national bowel movements. Take Accra for instance. The bulk of it ends up at “Lavender Hill”, a raw dumping site devoid of sanitary treatment (near Korle Bu Teaching Hospital). If you love fish like I do, this bizarre situation should bother you because any fish that ends up on your plate as a yummy meal might come from the poisoned pool in the general oceanic neighbourhood of “Lavender Hill.’
Gleaning our recent national history reveals a point in time when having more than one household toilet was criminalized under the PNDC administration. You were labelled bourgeois and stood the risk of being pronounced guilty without trial. But now, we know better. The poet Maya Angelou once said, “When you know better, you do better.”
What would happen if we do nothing to improve our national toileting situation? Currently, 80% of diseases reported at hospitals throughout the country are sanitation-related with its attendant high cost on national development. Considering the rapid growth in our population from 12 million in the late 1980s to the current 22 million plus, we could easily double up again in another twenty years. That will quickly shoot up our annual national bowel movements from the current 4.6 trillion to probably double the present figures. And, 90% of it might still not be disposed of hygienically – just left to sprawl about. That will indeed be a super filthy Ghana! And very sickly too! Clearly, we are leaving ourselves vulnerable to diseases of epidemic proportions.
So what to do? An election year is a unique opportunity. Don’t just sing ‘kum-baya’ with politicians. Let’s push the latrine agenda on them. When they come to power, we must relentlessly remind them until the toileting shame of our beloved country is resolved and moved to a level of decency. Every home, every school, every workplace and every public space must have toilets; nothing less. A toilet/latrine is not a luxury.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Roadside clutter and the underdevelopment of Ghana
Imagine a typical village in Ghana that has not been spoilt by ‘civilization.’ It is tidy. The inhabitants may not have much, may not need much – all the stuff, the excesses and trappings of ‘civilization.’ A case in point is Gbalahi, a suburb of Tamale, on the road to the landfill of the metropolis. There are the gorgeous indigenous round mud huts depicting serene family compound homes. There are no broken down vehicles packed permanently by the roadside or plastic trash flying around to spoil the look.
You can’t say the same about some major and minor urban centres. A drive through some parts of our 51 year old country reveals clutter, nonsensical footprints and signatures of neglect, confusion, chaos and indifference. Take a ride through the heart of Kumasi and suburbs of Accra especially Odokor, Madina, Adenta, Kaneshie and even East Legon and you will witness clutter. Brokenness abounds. There are multi-coloured and multi-sized shacks, kiosks and ‘containers’ as well as tree stumps and tree branches on road-sides, and ‘potholes’ next to ‘baby-coffins’ on roads.
There are also cancerous-looking zigzagged road shoulders competing for attention, without any rhyme or reason. At times, one suddenly comes across heaps of sand which do not belong on the edge of a road but is left there anyway, standing! Signboards of varied sizes and shapes are placed on road shoulders, posing dangers to road users. You could find car tyres, and signs like “Cement sold here” sticking into roads and drivers must swerve around them to save their lives. At any gutter-front and across unimaginable filth, anyone could mount a contraption of a stove to roast and sell ripe plantains – no questions asked; a living breathing restaurant across a gutter is completely acceptable. We are in a free-for-all regime in which anything goes. No voices are raised, let alone fingers of authority lifted to enforce bye-laws.
Between Accra and Kumasi, there are broken down vehicles abandoned in years past with no intent ever to be removed, but which are left permanently parked by the roadside ‘graveyard’ – rusting away quietly in the tropical sun and rains. The brokenness poses tremendous risks to motorists and all road users. Some of these broken down vehicles have their ugly rusty behinds boldly sticking into roads, waiting to usher unsuspecting folks into the afterlife where they will receive little or no welcome. Some of our roadsides look like victims of abuse, vandalism and of traumatic national disasters in the likes of tornados, cyclones, tsunamis or earthquakes.
The implications of clutter are deep. Clutter suggests confusion, disorder and a hot mess. Why is it that underdeveloped/developing societies/communities tend to exhibit more clutter than developed societies/communities? Clutter has the tendency to seep into the deep crevices of ones mind. Living in cluttered spaces can have a deep and long-lasting impact on one’s psyche, self-worth and world view. Clutter is like a smokescreen or a wall that one has to cut through to reach, see, touch and feel the beauty of the soul. Clutter is therefore covering up the beauty of our country, presenting a layering of development over under-development. Unless we pretend that clutter is just a natural and necessary aspect of hot tropical vibrancy!
The poignant words of Elle Wiesel, a holocaust survivor ring true. In a famous speech entitled: “The perils of indifference,” he said: “Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indifference is always the friend of the enemy.” Is it that we don’t care enough? Whose responsibility is it to ensure that roadsides are not turned into ‘grave-yards’ for garbage? Why are we allowing this rapid descent into indifference until what is not acceptable becomes the norm?
How does one explain the disturbing unkempt grounds in respected organizations, and of partially chipped edges of staircases that remain broken for prolonged periods without repair? It is not uncommon to find bumps and cracks on the grounds of some organizations – all waiting for visitors to trip, fall, and break a limb or two and become handicapped and a liability to loved ones. And if you think of the sad fact that much of this country is not handicap accessible, the irresponsibility of carelessness becomes even more annoying.
Personally, whenever I feel a sense of depression or get too busy to take good care of myself, my living space becomes cluttered and my teeth begin to yellow. So I’ve pondered: Could it be that cluttered neighbourhoods in Ghana are suffering from a certain level of depression?
The growing clutter in urban and peri-urban areas cannot simply be an outcome of poverty. When I was growing up, we didn’t have much; we were for the most part poor. But there was order, not clutter. Our current growing clutter can therefore be attributed to deeper issues. I’m not a psychologist neither do I pretend to posses more than an elementary knowledge in the subject matter area. I therefore entreat some of our psychologists in our universities, our beloved ‘ivory towers’, to provide us with a more informed analysis of this matter. It is this: is there any relationship between clutter and under-development? In other words, are we lagging behind in development because of our increasing clutter and disorder?
Beauty is mesmerizing and generates peace and tranquillity. Clutter, on the other hand, is dysfunctional, ugly and annoying. Look around you – at cluttered roadsides and neighbourhoods. Envision what you would have preferred as against the continued descent into more clutter. Let’s have a national conversation on this matter. Here are a few odd suggestions.
Where are the eccentric artists in the country? Where are our Picassos? I thought every society has its own band of artists who just love to doodle around! They should take over some cluttered spaces. Save us from ourselves and bring some of our neighbourhoods to life by giving us something remarkable so we could stop and stare and admire. Colourful creative chaos of artists will definitely look better than the madness we have at Odorkor. Artists can transform selected parts of Ghana into local and foreign tourist attractions with murals and paintings. Children can join in too through school projects in “Children Colour Ghana” initiatives to express themselves.
On my treks through Ghana, I’ve noticed one odd beauty. Next door to Linda Dorr Restaurant at Bunsu, there is a small patch of field with flowers, well kept. It almost does not belong there. And it’s beautiful. We need more or such. In a tropical climate with good amount of rain water, you would think that at least for parts of the year, flowers would decorate our horizon. For instance school children could nurture shrubs, fruit plants and flowers on main roads near their schools. Flowers can brighten up attitudes and calm the nerves. Or, we are too consumed with ‘bread-and-butter’ daily bread issues to bother about decorations and ornamentations! Not!
As a country, should we consider instituting a “National Clutter Alleviation Day” to ease off some of the ‘ghetorization’ of our neighbourhoods and the increasing expanse of clutter and disorder that seems to be growing and engulfing us? Or – never mind: Once upon a time, there was a ministry for the Beautification of the Capital City! Whatever it accomplished is nothing to write home about.
You can’t say the same about some major and minor urban centres. A drive through some parts of our 51 year old country reveals clutter, nonsensical footprints and signatures of neglect, confusion, chaos and indifference. Take a ride through the heart of Kumasi and suburbs of Accra especially Odokor, Madina, Adenta, Kaneshie and even East Legon and you will witness clutter. Brokenness abounds. There are multi-coloured and multi-sized shacks, kiosks and ‘containers’ as well as tree stumps and tree branches on road-sides, and ‘potholes’ next to ‘baby-coffins’ on roads.
There are also cancerous-looking zigzagged road shoulders competing for attention, without any rhyme or reason. At times, one suddenly comes across heaps of sand which do not belong on the edge of a road but is left there anyway, standing! Signboards of varied sizes and shapes are placed on road shoulders, posing dangers to road users. You could find car tyres, and signs like “Cement sold here” sticking into roads and drivers must swerve around them to save their lives. At any gutter-front and across unimaginable filth, anyone could mount a contraption of a stove to roast and sell ripe plantains – no questions asked; a living breathing restaurant across a gutter is completely acceptable. We are in a free-for-all regime in which anything goes. No voices are raised, let alone fingers of authority lifted to enforce bye-laws.
Between Accra and Kumasi, there are broken down vehicles abandoned in years past with no intent ever to be removed, but which are left permanently parked by the roadside ‘graveyard’ – rusting away quietly in the tropical sun and rains. The brokenness poses tremendous risks to motorists and all road users. Some of these broken down vehicles have their ugly rusty behinds boldly sticking into roads, waiting to usher unsuspecting folks into the afterlife where they will receive little or no welcome. Some of our roadsides look like victims of abuse, vandalism and of traumatic national disasters in the likes of tornados, cyclones, tsunamis or earthquakes.
The implications of clutter are deep. Clutter suggests confusion, disorder and a hot mess. Why is it that underdeveloped/developing societies/communities tend to exhibit more clutter than developed societies/communities? Clutter has the tendency to seep into the deep crevices of ones mind. Living in cluttered spaces can have a deep and long-lasting impact on one’s psyche, self-worth and world view. Clutter is like a smokescreen or a wall that one has to cut through to reach, see, touch and feel the beauty of the soul. Clutter is therefore covering up the beauty of our country, presenting a layering of development over under-development. Unless we pretend that clutter is just a natural and necessary aspect of hot tropical vibrancy!
The poignant words of Elle Wiesel, a holocaust survivor ring true. In a famous speech entitled: “The perils of indifference,” he said: “Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indifference is always the friend of the enemy.” Is it that we don’t care enough? Whose responsibility is it to ensure that roadsides are not turned into ‘grave-yards’ for garbage? Why are we allowing this rapid descent into indifference until what is not acceptable becomes the norm?
How does one explain the disturbing unkempt grounds in respected organizations, and of partially chipped edges of staircases that remain broken for prolonged periods without repair? It is not uncommon to find bumps and cracks on the grounds of some organizations – all waiting for visitors to trip, fall, and break a limb or two and become handicapped and a liability to loved ones. And if you think of the sad fact that much of this country is not handicap accessible, the irresponsibility of carelessness becomes even more annoying.
Personally, whenever I feel a sense of depression or get too busy to take good care of myself, my living space becomes cluttered and my teeth begin to yellow. So I’ve pondered: Could it be that cluttered neighbourhoods in Ghana are suffering from a certain level of depression?
The growing clutter in urban and peri-urban areas cannot simply be an outcome of poverty. When I was growing up, we didn’t have much; we were for the most part poor. But there was order, not clutter. Our current growing clutter can therefore be attributed to deeper issues. I’m not a psychologist neither do I pretend to posses more than an elementary knowledge in the subject matter area. I therefore entreat some of our psychologists in our universities, our beloved ‘ivory towers’, to provide us with a more informed analysis of this matter. It is this: is there any relationship between clutter and under-development? In other words, are we lagging behind in development because of our increasing clutter and disorder?
Beauty is mesmerizing and generates peace and tranquillity. Clutter, on the other hand, is dysfunctional, ugly and annoying. Look around you – at cluttered roadsides and neighbourhoods. Envision what you would have preferred as against the continued descent into more clutter. Let’s have a national conversation on this matter. Here are a few odd suggestions.
Where are the eccentric artists in the country? Where are our Picassos? I thought every society has its own band of artists who just love to doodle around! They should take over some cluttered spaces. Save us from ourselves and bring some of our neighbourhoods to life by giving us something remarkable so we could stop and stare and admire. Colourful creative chaos of artists will definitely look better than the madness we have at Odorkor. Artists can transform selected parts of Ghana into local and foreign tourist attractions with murals and paintings. Children can join in too through school projects in “Children Colour Ghana” initiatives to express themselves.
On my treks through Ghana, I’ve noticed one odd beauty. Next door to Linda Dorr Restaurant at Bunsu, there is a small patch of field with flowers, well kept. It almost does not belong there. And it’s beautiful. We need more or such. In a tropical climate with good amount of rain water, you would think that at least for parts of the year, flowers would decorate our horizon. For instance school children could nurture shrubs, fruit plants and flowers on main roads near their schools. Flowers can brighten up attitudes and calm the nerves. Or, we are too consumed with ‘bread-and-butter’ daily bread issues to bother about decorations and ornamentations! Not!
As a country, should we consider instituting a “National Clutter Alleviation Day” to ease off some of the ‘ghetorization’ of our neighbourhoods and the increasing expanse of clutter and disorder that seems to be growing and engulfing us? Or – never mind: Once upon a time, there was a ministry for the Beautification of the Capital City! Whatever it accomplished is nothing to write home about.
IT IS TIME TO TAKE STOCK AS WE SELL GT
WE ARE IN ANOTHER 20 YEAR CYCLE OF DIVESTITURE
Here is a short list of companies which were on life-support and have since given up the ghost through privatization/divestiture. State Fishing Corporation, Ghana Airways Corporation, State Hotels Corporation, Food Distribution Corporation, Black Star Line, and the GIHOC conglomerate. So naturally, there is the emotional issue of loss of companies we used to call our own.
Besides, since we are not in a state of collective amnesia, many people are jittery about the sale of yet another major state-owned corporation. Twenty years ago in 1988, the PNDC administration embarked on an elaborate scheme to divest the state of over 300 ailing companies. The selling continued long after the P was retired and it became NDC.
Twenty years earlier, after the 1966 coup d’etat, there was a short-lived eventful moment of privatization. Fact: divestiture does not sit on a moral high ground; funny things have happened. This country cannot brag of transparency and accountability in the sale of the difficult to determine number of SOEs. Hands have been soiled.
Disclosure: I was a staff member of divestiture from 1987 until 1990. I witnessed transparency thrown carelessly to the dogs. Professional work done by our technical team was constantly at the mercy of power-brokers at the Osu Castle with non-bidders winning companies after gleefully but audaciously skipping thorough processes of application, vetting and negotiations.
Divestiture is therefore fraught with managerial/executive corruption and plundering, and its attendant citizen cynicism. Not surprisingly, the current effort to privatize GT is seen by some against this backdrop of cloudy history. But a very important part of that history is what necessitates privatization.
State-owned companies are nobody’s uncle/father’s properties so some management and staff loot them at will. In the late 1980’s, our team discovered companies throughout this country that were not even on the books as belonging to Ghana! Expensive equipment ordered by the CPP administration, which arrived after the 1966 coup, had been left in boxes for two decades – untouched, unopened, abandoned. Additionally, we found many SOEs in such a sorry and unpardonable state of mismanagement that would have broken the mean hearts of even the worst enemies of Ghana.
I therefore can’t help but wonder: What are the insider organizational stories at GT? I want to be a pretty fly on GT walls to eavesdrop on endless private telephone conversations – both international and local – for which GT hugs the bills. I wish my alter ego fly could witness the extraordinary wastage that justifies this privatization! There is no smoke without fire.
Divestiture has had two 20-year cycles: late 1960s to 1980s and 1980s to present. I never thought this second cycle would last this long! So what to do? What you do at the end/beginning of a cycle: Review. The current hiccup about the sale of GT may suggest that it is time to take stock and have a national conversation about what to do with our lousy national assets.
Enduring Questions: Should we continue to privatize until there is nothing left to privatize? Is government completely getting out of the business of business so it can focus on the business of governing? If so, how do we deal with our nationalistic emotional attachment to companies we call our own?
But more so, why has the sale of GT hit a wall? Poor timing of the sale, weak and inconsistent messages, and fronting a not-so-beloved messenger have not helped. Loading on a non-GT asset, the little-understood national fibre optic network, for the purpose of the sale has led to stiffly raised eyebrows. But especially, the campaign against the sale of GT has had a strong relentless voice in the person of Dr Nii Moi Thompson, an economist and an unapologetically passionate CPP man with obvious ideological colouring. He often speaks eloquently on various national issues and appears to be a voice of credibility.
Then, as if the NPP government, in its folly, expected a muted public and did not anticipate public resistance to the privatization of GT just four months before an election, was not ready to respond in a timely manner and with a clear and consistent message. By the time government spokespersons began to stammer in defence of the sale, the train of discontent was out of the station.
And the tone of government did not help. Instead of calmly explaining the reasons for the sale, spokespersons screamed hoarse and even appeared to question the audacity of citizens to challenge the sale. If analysis of calls of ordinary citizens to radio stations is anything to go by, the perceived posture of arrogance of Minister Asamoah-Boateng as the frontline messenger did not help the matter. Marshall McLuhan rightly said: ‘the medium is the message.
Worst of all, the government fumbled when it offered two conflicting reasons to justify GT’s privatization. First, it was to inject technology and management of international repute. But this message was quickly diffused with hints and later, declarations of how urgently the money is needed to balance the books so this country will stay afloat!
The implication therefore was: GT is broke and Ghana is broke so let’s sell GT to chop – chew the ugly tail! These conflicting messages have not been carried to us the citizenry in a manner that touches not just our minds but our hearts. Divestiture of any form is both a matter of the intellect and emotions – mind and heart. The sale of GT is not just a rational financial matter but also an issue of credibility, trust and emotions. What could happen if divestiture is forced down our collective throat? Things could come back later to bite the government at the soft bottom where it hurts the most.
So, should GT be privatized? Yes, to save it from itself. When? Wait till after the December 7 elections – if government can suck it in. Why? Currently, the court of public opinion is increasingly against the sale. The tide is not in its favour. So ideally, the government should suspend the sale, indefinitely and find a graceful way to place GT firmly on life-support but ensure that the workers don’t fry and chop whatever is left of the company. Meanwhile, return to the drawing board. Explore some ‘ways and means’ to keep the company afloat financially.
What are the possible implications of going ahead with the sale after parliamentary endorsement? The period between now and the December election is just too short. Voters may suffer short memory especially since all opposition parties will cash in on such juicy anti-NPP material and get feisty as the political campaign rolls on. It will therefore be wise for the NPP to live and fight another day. It will be folly to commit political suicide today over GT and the small change of 50 million cedis! Considering the sweetness of African political power, what is 50 million cedis to a grasshopper when the Flag Staff Palace beckons!
There goes my patriotism if One Touch becomes Vodaphone! I only use One Touch. So MNT, Tigo and what-ma-call-it Kasapa will be laughing at me all the way to the bank saying “We’ve got you now, little woman!” But I’ll survive, somehow. My alter ego will gently relocate from One Touch to Vudu-phone, sorry –Vodafone!
Here is a short list of companies which were on life-support and have since given up the ghost through privatization/divestiture. State Fishing Corporation, Ghana Airways Corporation, State Hotels Corporation, Food Distribution Corporation, Black Star Line, and the GIHOC conglomerate. So naturally, there is the emotional issue of loss of companies we used to call our own.
Besides, since we are not in a state of collective amnesia, many people are jittery about the sale of yet another major state-owned corporation. Twenty years ago in 1988, the PNDC administration embarked on an elaborate scheme to divest the state of over 300 ailing companies. The selling continued long after the P was retired and it became NDC.
Twenty years earlier, after the 1966 coup d’etat, there was a short-lived eventful moment of privatization. Fact: divestiture does not sit on a moral high ground; funny things have happened. This country cannot brag of transparency and accountability in the sale of the difficult to determine number of SOEs. Hands have been soiled.
Disclosure: I was a staff member of divestiture from 1987 until 1990. I witnessed transparency thrown carelessly to the dogs. Professional work done by our technical team was constantly at the mercy of power-brokers at the Osu Castle with non-bidders winning companies after gleefully but audaciously skipping thorough processes of application, vetting and negotiations.
Divestiture is therefore fraught with managerial/executive corruption and plundering, and its attendant citizen cynicism. Not surprisingly, the current effort to privatize GT is seen by some against this backdrop of cloudy history. But a very important part of that history is what necessitates privatization.
State-owned companies are nobody’s uncle/father’s properties so some management and staff loot them at will. In the late 1980’s, our team discovered companies throughout this country that were not even on the books as belonging to Ghana! Expensive equipment ordered by the CPP administration, which arrived after the 1966 coup, had been left in boxes for two decades – untouched, unopened, abandoned. Additionally, we found many SOEs in such a sorry and unpardonable state of mismanagement that would have broken the mean hearts of even the worst enemies of Ghana.
I therefore can’t help but wonder: What are the insider organizational stories at GT? I want to be a pretty fly on GT walls to eavesdrop on endless private telephone conversations – both international and local – for which GT hugs the bills. I wish my alter ego fly could witness the extraordinary wastage that justifies this privatization! There is no smoke without fire.
Divestiture has had two 20-year cycles: late 1960s to 1980s and 1980s to present. I never thought this second cycle would last this long! So what to do? What you do at the end/beginning of a cycle: Review. The current hiccup about the sale of GT may suggest that it is time to take stock and have a national conversation about what to do with our lousy national assets.
Enduring Questions: Should we continue to privatize until there is nothing left to privatize? Is government completely getting out of the business of business so it can focus on the business of governing? If so, how do we deal with our nationalistic emotional attachment to companies we call our own?
But more so, why has the sale of GT hit a wall? Poor timing of the sale, weak and inconsistent messages, and fronting a not-so-beloved messenger have not helped. Loading on a non-GT asset, the little-understood national fibre optic network, for the purpose of the sale has led to stiffly raised eyebrows. But especially, the campaign against the sale of GT has had a strong relentless voice in the person of Dr Nii Moi Thompson, an economist and an unapologetically passionate CPP man with obvious ideological colouring. He often speaks eloquently on various national issues and appears to be a voice of credibility.
Then, as if the NPP government, in its folly, expected a muted public and did not anticipate public resistance to the privatization of GT just four months before an election, was not ready to respond in a timely manner and with a clear and consistent message. By the time government spokespersons began to stammer in defence of the sale, the train of discontent was out of the station.
And the tone of government did not help. Instead of calmly explaining the reasons for the sale, spokespersons screamed hoarse and even appeared to question the audacity of citizens to challenge the sale. If analysis of calls of ordinary citizens to radio stations is anything to go by, the perceived posture of arrogance of Minister Asamoah-Boateng as the frontline messenger did not help the matter. Marshall McLuhan rightly said: ‘the medium is the message.
Worst of all, the government fumbled when it offered two conflicting reasons to justify GT’s privatization. First, it was to inject technology and management of international repute. But this message was quickly diffused with hints and later, declarations of how urgently the money is needed to balance the books so this country will stay afloat!
The implication therefore was: GT is broke and Ghana is broke so let’s sell GT to chop – chew the ugly tail! These conflicting messages have not been carried to us the citizenry in a manner that touches not just our minds but our hearts. Divestiture of any form is both a matter of the intellect and emotions – mind and heart. The sale of GT is not just a rational financial matter but also an issue of credibility, trust and emotions. What could happen if divestiture is forced down our collective throat? Things could come back later to bite the government at the soft bottom where it hurts the most.
So, should GT be privatized? Yes, to save it from itself. When? Wait till after the December 7 elections – if government can suck it in. Why? Currently, the court of public opinion is increasingly against the sale. The tide is not in its favour. So ideally, the government should suspend the sale, indefinitely and find a graceful way to place GT firmly on life-support but ensure that the workers don’t fry and chop whatever is left of the company. Meanwhile, return to the drawing board. Explore some ‘ways and means’ to keep the company afloat financially.
What are the possible implications of going ahead with the sale after parliamentary endorsement? The period between now and the December election is just too short. Voters may suffer short memory especially since all opposition parties will cash in on such juicy anti-NPP material and get feisty as the political campaign rolls on. It will therefore be wise for the NPP to live and fight another day. It will be folly to commit political suicide today over GT and the small change of 50 million cedis! Considering the sweetness of African political power, what is 50 million cedis to a grasshopper when the Flag Staff Palace beckons!
There goes my patriotism if One Touch becomes Vodaphone! I only use One Touch. So MNT, Tigo and what-ma-call-it Kasapa will be laughing at me all the way to the bank saying “We’ve got you now, little woman!” But I’ll survive, somehow. My alter ego will gently relocate from One Touch to Vudu-phone, sorry –Vodafone!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT
BAN NON-BIODEGRADABLE PLASTICS
Would some of you folks who hover around, work directly with, and have the ears of my President – His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor – pass on this letter to him. Put it on his desk or the best place where he would see it and read. Remember: location, location, location! Please do not file it away or treat it as a matter to be handled by a government functionary. Thank you for your kindness.
Dear Mr President:
I think you are gorgeous, with eyes to die for. Some of my naughty male friends don’t think so. Well, I think they are jealous but that is neither here nor there. I am writing to you about a matter I consider urgent that is giving me sleepless nights and it might be doing same to you too as well as many others in our 51-year old country. It is about the matter of the deplorable state of our national environmental sanitation. Since you cannot solve the entire problem because of time constraints, I entreat you to take on just one aspect of it that I consider solvable and is at the heart of the overall problem.
It is this: Before you exit the presidency, please ban the use of non-biodegradable plastics – the type that do not decompose but fly around. You see, I know for a fact that presidents love to leave legacies. This is one legacy I would love my President to leave for generations yet unborn. If you do, your memory would forever stick in my mind as not simply gorgeous but also a big-time problem-solver. You would have saved Ghana from a sad but avoidable and quiet destruction by an unassuming monster – plastics.
Collectively, plastic trash represents a festering sore on the path we have chosen as a nation. Sad! We are precariously walking a thin fine line, a tight rope of environmental sanitation, and getting closer and closer to a tipping point where we could fall off the cliff. As you know, Ghana is increasingly becoming filthy. Cities, towns and villages are not spared from this rot. The major suspect in this matter is plastics.
You see, Mr President, long before plastics, we were. We did just fine. Without a doubt we did some really unsanitary things like drinking water from the same cup, by which act we constantly ran the risk of sharing our poverty-laden infectious diseases. We even used to wrap food with leaves (how I miss those days!)
Then this thing called plastics landed on our shores like the white man of old landed with gin in one hand and the blessed Bible in the other. We know what happened with that eventful visit (they took some of our kith and kin away as slaves to sweat blood to develop their civilizations and then colonized our land). In a similar fashion, we the people of Ghana have fallen in love with plastics because it’s so convenient. We have accepted plastics without the necessary probing questioning. It is as if plastics have tricked us and we do not seem to suspect that we have a monster in our midst.
Mr President, plastic waste is a world-wide problem. It is not unique to Ghana. But increasingly, several countries are waking up to the damage plastics cause their environment and with the needed courage of conviction, they are attacking the monster. We are not! The plastic menace is not on the national agenda. A few years ago, there was a short-lived but failed attempt to ban plastics in Accra (by Mayor Agyiri-Blankson). Recently, the rhetoric on the national level seems to focus on recycling as if that should be the only way.
Gleaning stories from across the world (e.g. Uganda, Zanzibar, China, Ireland, India, Bangladesh, South Africa, Kenya, UK and USA) reveals multiple strategies, used in combination, by various countries to control the quantity of plastics. These include but not limited to: Placing high taxes on plastics to render them unattractive to use. Cut down on the importation and production of plastics. Provide free reusable plastic bags. Place a ban on the production and distribution of ‘one-use’ plastic bags (the type used to bag everything we buy which we mindlessly throw away as soon we remove the items bought). Explore alternatives to plastic bags – e.g. jute bags so people will cut down on the use of plastics. Ban the production and usage of thin plastic bags (the type that flies and floats). Place an outright ban on all plastics!! Institute ‘plastic-bag-free’ days. Another strategy, of course, is recycling.
My President, as a country, we have not fully explored strategies on the usage and management of plastics, nor shown real and consistent commitment to deal with the menace. Undoubtedly, adopting some of the above strategies will lead to financial losses to companies and individuals whose livelihoods depend on plastics. But then, again, before plastics, we were! Some of the strategies will entail a confrontation with the plastic industry and interest groups which include plastic manufacturers, importers, distributors, sachet water producers, and even the new class of businesses of plastic re-cyclers and their multitude of cousins – sachet water sellers. But of course, you are the president and you can confront anyone head-on.
Mr President, I struggle with these questions: Do we want to live in a country in which plastics have inter-locked the earth? What is the impact of our present actions on the future of this county? I shudder to think of what would happen to Ghana if we do nothing now to effectively confront the plastic waste menace. Currently, the early warning signs are vivid. Land, sea, rivers, gutters, backyards and roadsides all harbour secret sorrows as multi-coloured plastics anchor themselves in our collective consciousness and we continue to inflict such harsh treatment on the environment.
Please take up this matter as an urgent national agenda just as you have admirably shown in other matters, especially in ensuring that Ghanaians enjoy peace under your leadership. Shame those who think that from this point onwards, you are nothing but a ‘lame-duck’ President. The benefits of running the last lap of your presidency is that as you move closer and closer to the finish line, the only thing you can lose is not to win.
You also have the beautiful enviable position of behaving like a dead horse, not fearing even the sharpest of knives. You can’t fear a thing; you have no re-election blues to worry about. You can therefore be as bold and fearless as you want to be and take this high road to save Ghana from the plastic monster.
Please use this unique privilege to put a stop to the ticking time bomb of managing our national filth so your legacy will loom larger as Ghana aspires to advance to a middle-income status by the fast approaching 2015. We cannot do so in filth. Before you take a bow out of the presidency, make a dent in this urgent matter of environmental sanitation. Since time is not on your side, at least give us the minimum. By presidential order, ban the use of non-biodegradable (constipated) plastics.
Respectfully yours, Yaa Doris
+233208286817; dorisdartey@yahoo.com
Would some of you folks who hover around, work directly with, and have the ears of my President – His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor – pass on this letter to him. Put it on his desk or the best place where he would see it and read. Remember: location, location, location! Please do not file it away or treat it as a matter to be handled by a government functionary. Thank you for your kindness.
Dear Mr President:
I think you are gorgeous, with eyes to die for. Some of my naughty male friends don’t think so. Well, I think they are jealous but that is neither here nor there. I am writing to you about a matter I consider urgent that is giving me sleepless nights and it might be doing same to you too as well as many others in our 51-year old country. It is about the matter of the deplorable state of our national environmental sanitation. Since you cannot solve the entire problem because of time constraints, I entreat you to take on just one aspect of it that I consider solvable and is at the heart of the overall problem.
It is this: Before you exit the presidency, please ban the use of non-biodegradable plastics – the type that do not decompose but fly around. You see, I know for a fact that presidents love to leave legacies. This is one legacy I would love my President to leave for generations yet unborn. If you do, your memory would forever stick in my mind as not simply gorgeous but also a big-time problem-solver. You would have saved Ghana from a sad but avoidable and quiet destruction by an unassuming monster – plastics.
Collectively, plastic trash represents a festering sore on the path we have chosen as a nation. Sad! We are precariously walking a thin fine line, a tight rope of environmental sanitation, and getting closer and closer to a tipping point where we could fall off the cliff. As you know, Ghana is increasingly becoming filthy. Cities, towns and villages are not spared from this rot. The major suspect in this matter is plastics.
You see, Mr President, long before plastics, we were. We did just fine. Without a doubt we did some really unsanitary things like drinking water from the same cup, by which act we constantly ran the risk of sharing our poverty-laden infectious diseases. We even used to wrap food with leaves (how I miss those days!)
Then this thing called plastics landed on our shores like the white man of old landed with gin in one hand and the blessed Bible in the other. We know what happened with that eventful visit (they took some of our kith and kin away as slaves to sweat blood to develop their civilizations and then colonized our land). In a similar fashion, we the people of Ghana have fallen in love with plastics because it’s so convenient. We have accepted plastics without the necessary probing questioning. It is as if plastics have tricked us and we do not seem to suspect that we have a monster in our midst.
Mr President, plastic waste is a world-wide problem. It is not unique to Ghana. But increasingly, several countries are waking up to the damage plastics cause their environment and with the needed courage of conviction, they are attacking the monster. We are not! The plastic menace is not on the national agenda. A few years ago, there was a short-lived but failed attempt to ban plastics in Accra (by Mayor Agyiri-Blankson). Recently, the rhetoric on the national level seems to focus on recycling as if that should be the only way.
Gleaning stories from across the world (e.g. Uganda, Zanzibar, China, Ireland, India, Bangladesh, South Africa, Kenya, UK and USA) reveals multiple strategies, used in combination, by various countries to control the quantity of plastics. These include but not limited to: Placing high taxes on plastics to render them unattractive to use. Cut down on the importation and production of plastics. Provide free reusable plastic bags. Place a ban on the production and distribution of ‘one-use’ plastic bags (the type used to bag everything we buy which we mindlessly throw away as soon we remove the items bought). Explore alternatives to plastic bags – e.g. jute bags so people will cut down on the use of plastics. Ban the production and usage of thin plastic bags (the type that flies and floats). Place an outright ban on all plastics!! Institute ‘plastic-bag-free’ days. Another strategy, of course, is recycling.
My President, as a country, we have not fully explored strategies on the usage and management of plastics, nor shown real and consistent commitment to deal with the menace. Undoubtedly, adopting some of the above strategies will lead to financial losses to companies and individuals whose livelihoods depend on plastics. But then, again, before plastics, we were! Some of the strategies will entail a confrontation with the plastic industry and interest groups which include plastic manufacturers, importers, distributors, sachet water producers, and even the new class of businesses of plastic re-cyclers and their multitude of cousins – sachet water sellers. But of course, you are the president and you can confront anyone head-on.
Mr President, I struggle with these questions: Do we want to live in a country in which plastics have inter-locked the earth? What is the impact of our present actions on the future of this county? I shudder to think of what would happen to Ghana if we do nothing now to effectively confront the plastic waste menace. Currently, the early warning signs are vivid. Land, sea, rivers, gutters, backyards and roadsides all harbour secret sorrows as multi-coloured plastics anchor themselves in our collective consciousness and we continue to inflict such harsh treatment on the environment.
Please take up this matter as an urgent national agenda just as you have admirably shown in other matters, especially in ensuring that Ghanaians enjoy peace under your leadership. Shame those who think that from this point onwards, you are nothing but a ‘lame-duck’ President. The benefits of running the last lap of your presidency is that as you move closer and closer to the finish line, the only thing you can lose is not to win.
You also have the beautiful enviable position of behaving like a dead horse, not fearing even the sharpest of knives. You can’t fear a thing; you have no re-election blues to worry about. You can therefore be as bold and fearless as you want to be and take this high road to save Ghana from the plastic monster.
Please use this unique privilege to put a stop to the ticking time bomb of managing our national filth so your legacy will loom larger as Ghana aspires to advance to a middle-income status by the fast approaching 2015. We cannot do so in filth. Before you take a bow out of the presidency, make a dent in this urgent matter of environmental sanitation. Since time is not on your side, at least give us the minimum. By presidential order, ban the use of non-biodegradable (constipated) plastics.
Respectfully yours, Yaa Doris
+233208286817; dorisdartey@yahoo.com
Plastic stories from Afar: Banning and/or discouraging the use of plastics
Oh plastics! They are so convenient. We can’t seem to do without them yet, we know that they are destroying our environment. And to think that we did just fine before the invention of plastics! But now, plastics, in all their multiplicity and flamboyant colours, are literally choking our earth, the finite space we call Ghana.
Here is a family social responsibility (FSR) and good citizenship assignment for households. Keep all plastic bags handled by members of your household for a month so you can begin to assess your contribution to the plastic bag menace. Before you throw your collection away, take note of the varied colours, sizes and texture as well as the sheer volume of plastics that comes your way invited and uninvited.
Next, give yourself the permission to reflect on your plastic collection and see them as part of your carbon footprints with which you defile the earth. Reason? So that next time you see a plastic-choked gutter, or plastics flying about like birds, and plastics filthily ‘decorating’ the streets, you would accept the fact that you are part of the problem.
An international campaign to ban plastic bags and to place restrictions on their usage has been gaining momentum. Stories abound from across the world about countries, cities, towns and communities that have/are taking steps to conquer the monster. From Ireland, Australia, Italy, South Africa and Taiwan to Mumbai, Hawaii and Uganda, and even China, several countries are placing one form of restriction or the other on plastics, including banning them outright.
Following are a few stories from the plastic bag front on the international scene. In 2000, Mumbai (Bombay) in India banned plastic bags. Dhaka in Bangladesh followed in 2002. Earlier this year on January 10, China, the big bad boy of environmental pollution, suddenly announced a complete nationwide ban on super thin plastic bags. A compulsory charge was imposed on plastic carrier bags to take effect on June 1st with further instructions for all supermarkets and small shops to go ‘plastic bag-free’ by that date. Additionally, the Chinese cabinet has announced plans to create incentives for companies to separate bags from waste for reprocessing and/or recycling.
Regardless of the existence or absence of a consistent national approach on the issue, recently on March 2, the state government of South Australia announced a ban on single-use plastic bags by year end. Premier Mike Rann said of the initiative: "The time has come to lead by example and I am urging all states to follow this important step in ridding our environment of these bags that contribute to greenhouse gases, clog up landfills, litter our streets and streams as well as kill sea life."
In August 2007, Sainsbury (UK) placed a ban on plastic bags from their stores and began to give away free reusable bags to their customers. In February, Aylsham announced plans to become Norfolk's first plastic bag-free town while Suffolk County Council reinforced intention to have the county get rid of plastics. Retailers such as Ikea in the UK removed single-use plastic bags from their stores in July last year. Not to be out-done, in late February, Marks and Spencer announced plans to charge 5 pence for each plastic bag issued.
On February 29, it was reported that UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for a ban of plastic bags. He announced that it was time for government, individuals and supermarkets to accept responsibility for ending the environmental damage they are causing. He added: “I want to make clear that if government compulsion is needed to make the change, we will take the necessary steps”. Now, that is leadership! Not to be left out, a few weeks ago on March 3, news hit the headlines: “Now eco-friendly Prince Charles teams up with supermarket chain to wage war on the bags.”
There are moves in the United States to follow the global trend to regulate the use of plastic bags. For instance, in Annapolis, Maryland, a 2007 bill aimed at protecting marine life would also ban plastic bags from all retail stores. On November 18 2007, a city ordinance went into effect that forbids the use of plastics in large groceries and drugstores.
Other cities in the USA have and continue to adopt measures to control the plastic menace. Boston (Massachusetts), Baltimore (Maryland), Portland (Oregon), Oakland (California), Seattle (Washington) and Steamboat Springs (Colorado) are considering their own initiatives.
Different approaches are used by various countries. For instance, plastic bags were not outlawed in Ireland. News headlines on February 4, 2008 reported an about-turn of social acceptance of people in Ireland who use plastic bags. Interestingly, this change of social acceptability was triggered after the imposition of a 33 cents tax on the bags at the point of product purchase. Within weeks, plastic bag use dropped by 94% with people quickly replacing the bags with their own reusable alternatives. Money swine!
Some African countries have also taken measures to place limits on plastic bags. In South Africa, plastic bags were nicknamed the country’s “national flowers’ because they were colourful litter on streets. So in 2003, under the leadership of a minister of environment who had real passion for the environment, South Africa made the thin and flimsy plastic bags illegal. Retailers handing out plastic bags faced the equivalence of $13,800 fine or a 10-year jail sentence.
The plastic ban fever has also caught on in East Africa. In 2005, Rwanda banned the importation and use of plastics which are less than 100 microns thick. In 2006, Tanzania took it a step further when Vice President Ali Mohamed Shein announced a total ban on plastic bags and ordered a switch to recyclable materials or biodegradable alternatives. Other African countries, including Uganda, Kenya and Zanzibar have adopted measures aimed at controlling plastic bag importation and usage.
Plastic is business. Big business! Big money! There are strong interest groups who fight any well-meaning moves aimed at banning or limiting the use of plastics. Reasons? Simple! Reducing the use of plastics will amount to putting sand in some people’s garri. Who wants sand in his/her garri? Without a doubt, sand renders garri ‘uneatable.’ Any efforts to ban plastics will therefore meet with resistance from plastic bag importers and producers as well as others who make a living from the convenient ‘monster.’ Take a case in point from China.
After the state government announced its decision to restrict the production, sale and use of plastic bags earlier this year, Huaqiang, China’s largest plastic bag manufacturer, closed down in mid-January. The factory employed 20,000 workers and produced 250,000 tons of plastic bags a year, valued at about $305 million. The fate of the employees and the industry, hang in the balance. So there are challenges.
This matter therefore needs political courage to handle and policy that is bold, consistent and forward-looking. Not a policy that could bend just because some ‘high-fly’ beneficiaries go to ‘see’ movers and shakers all the way to the slave castle to influence policy. The plastic menace is not about the beneficiaries of today but the losers of tomorrow – our children yet unborn, for whom we are choking Ghana.
We must respond to this crisis or else, someday, plastics will choke Ghana – Watch!
+233208286817; dorisdartey@yahoo.com
Plastics are tough
They fly, they hide, they choke
Not made to melt, not known to melt
They hide in gutters, water-ways, farm-lands, oceans – Waiting!
Someday, plastics will choke Ghana – Watch!
Here is a family social responsibility (FSR) and good citizenship assignment for households. Keep all plastic bags handled by members of your household for a month so you can begin to assess your contribution to the plastic bag menace. Before you throw your collection away, take note of the varied colours, sizes and texture as well as the sheer volume of plastics that comes your way invited and uninvited.
Next, give yourself the permission to reflect on your plastic collection and see them as part of your carbon footprints with which you defile the earth. Reason? So that next time you see a plastic-choked gutter, or plastics flying about like birds, and plastics filthily ‘decorating’ the streets, you would accept the fact that you are part of the problem.
An international campaign to ban plastic bags and to place restrictions on their usage has been gaining momentum. Stories abound from across the world about countries, cities, towns and communities that have/are taking steps to conquer the monster. From Ireland, Australia, Italy, South Africa and Taiwan to Mumbai, Hawaii and Uganda, and even China, several countries are placing one form of restriction or the other on plastics, including banning them outright.
Following are a few stories from the plastic bag front on the international scene. In 2000, Mumbai (Bombay) in India banned plastic bags. Dhaka in Bangladesh followed in 2002. Earlier this year on January 10, China, the big bad boy of environmental pollution, suddenly announced a complete nationwide ban on super thin plastic bags. A compulsory charge was imposed on plastic carrier bags to take effect on June 1st with further instructions for all supermarkets and small shops to go ‘plastic bag-free’ by that date. Additionally, the Chinese cabinet has announced plans to create incentives for companies to separate bags from waste for reprocessing and/or recycling.
Regardless of the existence or absence of a consistent national approach on the issue, recently on March 2, the state government of South Australia announced a ban on single-use plastic bags by year end. Premier Mike Rann said of the initiative: "The time has come to lead by example and I am urging all states to follow this important step in ridding our environment of these bags that contribute to greenhouse gases, clog up landfills, litter our streets and streams as well as kill sea life."
In August 2007, Sainsbury (UK) placed a ban on plastic bags from their stores and began to give away free reusable bags to their customers. In February, Aylsham announced plans to become Norfolk's first plastic bag-free town while Suffolk County Council reinforced intention to have the county get rid of plastics. Retailers such as Ikea in the UK removed single-use plastic bags from their stores in July last year. Not to be out-done, in late February, Marks and Spencer announced plans to charge 5 pence for each plastic bag issued.
On February 29, it was reported that UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for a ban of plastic bags. He announced that it was time for government, individuals and supermarkets to accept responsibility for ending the environmental damage they are causing. He added: “I want to make clear that if government compulsion is needed to make the change, we will take the necessary steps”. Now, that is leadership! Not to be left out, a few weeks ago on March 3, news hit the headlines: “Now eco-friendly Prince Charles teams up with supermarket chain to wage war on the bags.”
There are moves in the United States to follow the global trend to regulate the use of plastic bags. For instance, in Annapolis, Maryland, a 2007 bill aimed at protecting marine life would also ban plastic bags from all retail stores. On November 18 2007, a city ordinance went into effect that forbids the use of plastics in large groceries and drugstores.
Other cities in the USA have and continue to adopt measures to control the plastic menace. Boston (Massachusetts), Baltimore (Maryland), Portland (Oregon), Oakland (California), Seattle (Washington) and Steamboat Springs (Colorado) are considering their own initiatives.
Different approaches are used by various countries. For instance, plastic bags were not outlawed in Ireland. News headlines on February 4, 2008 reported an about-turn of social acceptance of people in Ireland who use plastic bags. Interestingly, this change of social acceptability was triggered after the imposition of a 33 cents tax on the bags at the point of product purchase. Within weeks, plastic bag use dropped by 94% with people quickly replacing the bags with their own reusable alternatives. Money swine!
Some African countries have also taken measures to place limits on plastic bags. In South Africa, plastic bags were nicknamed the country’s “national flowers’ because they were colourful litter on streets. So in 2003, under the leadership of a minister of environment who had real passion for the environment, South Africa made the thin and flimsy plastic bags illegal. Retailers handing out plastic bags faced the equivalence of $13,800 fine or a 10-year jail sentence.
The plastic ban fever has also caught on in East Africa. In 2005, Rwanda banned the importation and use of plastics which are less than 100 microns thick. In 2006, Tanzania took it a step further when Vice President Ali Mohamed Shein announced a total ban on plastic bags and ordered a switch to recyclable materials or biodegradable alternatives. Other African countries, including Uganda, Kenya and Zanzibar have adopted measures aimed at controlling plastic bag importation and usage.
Plastic is business. Big business! Big money! There are strong interest groups who fight any well-meaning moves aimed at banning or limiting the use of plastics. Reasons? Simple! Reducing the use of plastics will amount to putting sand in some people’s garri. Who wants sand in his/her garri? Without a doubt, sand renders garri ‘uneatable.’ Any efforts to ban plastics will therefore meet with resistance from plastic bag importers and producers as well as others who make a living from the convenient ‘monster.’ Take a case in point from China.
After the state government announced its decision to restrict the production, sale and use of plastic bags earlier this year, Huaqiang, China’s largest plastic bag manufacturer, closed down in mid-January. The factory employed 20,000 workers and produced 250,000 tons of plastic bags a year, valued at about $305 million. The fate of the employees and the industry, hang in the balance. So there are challenges.
This matter therefore needs political courage to handle and policy that is bold, consistent and forward-looking. Not a policy that could bend just because some ‘high-fly’ beneficiaries go to ‘see’ movers and shakers all the way to the slave castle to influence policy. The plastic menace is not about the beneficiaries of today but the losers of tomorrow – our children yet unborn, for whom we are choking Ghana.
We must respond to this crisis or else, someday, plastics will choke Ghana – Watch!
+233208286817; dorisdartey@yahoo.com
Plastics are tough
They fly, they hide, they choke
Not made to melt, not known to melt
They hide in gutters, water-ways, farm-lands, oceans – Waiting!
Someday, plastics will choke Ghana – Watch!
SANITATION OUT OF THE MOUTH OF BABES
I attended an awesome sanitation conference this week. It was organized by the Coalition for NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS). As is typical of such gatherings, privileged elitist grown ups, who for the most part, are belly-full (including me), spoke big English and expressed high-flying ideas. There were colourfully robed traditional rulers. There was also the Eastern Regional Minister (politically belly-full) who arrived one hour late after about 150 people were seated just to read a speech on behalf of the Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment. Hmmm!
The theme for the conference was “Reaching the MDGs for sanitation: Options to expand and accelerate coverage.” (MDG stands for Millennium Development Goals). The goal for sanitation is to “Reduce by half, the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation” by the year 2015, a mere seven short years away.
Statistics of coverage world wide show that much of Africa, including Ghana, has deplorable sanitation. 60% of Africa’s population is currently without access to safe sanitation with one million Africans, mostly children under age five dying every year from poor sanitation. Just about 10% of Ghanaians have the luxury of direct access to toilet facilities. All others use public facilities, bushes, beaches and varied sorts of ungodly degrading sites. This is a frightening and shameful fact indeed. And we do not practice sanitary solid and liquid waste disposal either. We throw garbage away ‘by-heart.’
The UN declared 2008 the International Year of Sanitation as a way to encourage humanity to aggressively solve this nagging filthy unhealthy problem. The year is far spent. I have had time to reflect on a quotation by Mahatma Ghandi: “Sanitation is more important than independence.” What does it mean for us as a people that after 51 years of nationhood, we make a fail grade in the matter of managing the waste we generate from living?
On the sidelines of this conference, Mole XIX, was 12 year-old Cindy Doe, a class six female pupil of Solomon School in Koforidua. She spoke on behalf of the children of Ghana. That little girl melted my heart with her confidence. So today, I step aside to give space to Cindy as a tribute to the children of Ghana. I reproduce the full text of her speech and her responses to a few questions I asked afterwards. Hear her:
“My name is Cindy Doe and I am here to represent the children of Ghana. I am very happy to be called upon to give a few words on the opening of the Mole XIX conference of the water and sanitation sector.
Six years ago, children like me spoke for the first time in the United Nations General Assembly and they presented a document called “A World Fit for us.” Since then, young people all over the world have been taking actions to make this world “World Fit for Us.” According to the children who participated in the world fit for children programme, there are no better people to consult on children’s rights than children themselves.
We have raised our voices and taken responsibility for those issues that directly impact us. Not long ago, the J8 also met and we the children made our input. As this year is the International Year of Sanitation, we the children of Ghana should not be left out. It is important to note that we are awake and will support Ghana to reach the MDG targets.
Sanitation is not a dirty word! Clean water and sanitation are very important to use as children because they are not only about hygiene and disease; they are about our dignity and development. This is why policy makers, opinion leaders and stakeholders gathered here today must make an effort to make proper sanitation accessible and available to everyone because everyone, that means ALL, have the right to a healthy life and a life with dignity. Everyone, including children have the right to sanitation.
Mr Chairman, if the current rate of sanitation delivery is not doubled or tripled, Ghana will miss the sanitation target of the MDGs. This will have serious impact on the development of Ghana, with children continuing to pay the price in lost lives, missed schooling, in diseases, malnutrition and poverty. In Ghana, over 80% do not have access to safe latrines.
Lack of toilets make women and girls vulnerable to violence if conditions force them to defecate only after midnight and in secluded areas. Improved sanitation enhances dignity, privacy and safety especially for women and girls. Schools with decent toilet facilities enable children, especially girls reaching puberty, to remain in the educational system.
“Clean, safe and dignified toilet and hand-washing facilities in schools help ensure that boys and girls get the education they need and deserve,” said Ann M Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director.
Sanitation is vital for health. Sanitation is a good economic investment. Sanitation leads to social development. Sanitation helps the environment. Sanitation is achievable.
To end, I will request that children are involved in decisions that affect us. Together, we can continue building a Ghana fit for us. Thank you.”
Later in an interview, Cindy added that as a matter of urgency, the government must provide urinals and toilets in all schools in the country so children do not have to defecate around because that pollutes the environment. She explained that some bathrooms in schools are too dirty so some children prefer to ease themselves in the bushes.
If we should go round rural communities in this country to encourage children to share their opinions about the state of their sanitation, we might hear the voice of Araba Atuah, a 16 year-old in an end-of-the-road village. Hear her: “Snakes hide in the pit latrines. One sunny afternoon, I saw a big snake on the wooden plank of a communal pit latrine. I resolved not to use the communal facility again. I think it is time we had our own household latrine.” (Culled from a PlanGhana poster.)
You would wish that Araba’s story is unique to our rural areas. The sad fact is that as a result of rapid urbanization, when all roads appear to lead only to our cities, the sanitation situation of children who live on the fringes of society in urban centres is no better than that of the rural child. There are urban/peri-urban children who live in kiosks, shacks, containers and all sorts of weird structures. Have you ever wondered: When street children have to ‘go’, where do they go? Nature calls everybody everyday. It is critical how all of God’s children respond to nature’s calls. In dignity!
Children are honest and can express their opinions freely if we let them and especially if we actively seek out their opinions. Adults are mechanical, a direct result of having lived for so long and losing innocence. If we admit that we adults are goners, almost on our way out of this earth, then we would also admit that this country is for the children. So why are we failing the next generation through poor management of our waste? In Les Miserables, Victor Hugo said: “The history of men is reflected in the history of sewers…. The sewer is the conscience of a city.” Where is our collective conscience?
dorisdartey@yahoo.com; +233208286817
The theme for the conference was “Reaching the MDGs for sanitation: Options to expand and accelerate coverage.” (MDG stands for Millennium Development Goals). The goal for sanitation is to “Reduce by half, the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation” by the year 2015, a mere seven short years away.
Statistics of coverage world wide show that much of Africa, including Ghana, has deplorable sanitation. 60% of Africa’s population is currently without access to safe sanitation with one million Africans, mostly children under age five dying every year from poor sanitation. Just about 10% of Ghanaians have the luxury of direct access to toilet facilities. All others use public facilities, bushes, beaches and varied sorts of ungodly degrading sites. This is a frightening and shameful fact indeed. And we do not practice sanitary solid and liquid waste disposal either. We throw garbage away ‘by-heart.’
The UN declared 2008 the International Year of Sanitation as a way to encourage humanity to aggressively solve this nagging filthy unhealthy problem. The year is far spent. I have had time to reflect on a quotation by Mahatma Ghandi: “Sanitation is more important than independence.” What does it mean for us as a people that after 51 years of nationhood, we make a fail grade in the matter of managing the waste we generate from living?
On the sidelines of this conference, Mole XIX, was 12 year-old Cindy Doe, a class six female pupil of Solomon School in Koforidua. She spoke on behalf of the children of Ghana. That little girl melted my heart with her confidence. So today, I step aside to give space to Cindy as a tribute to the children of Ghana. I reproduce the full text of her speech and her responses to a few questions I asked afterwards. Hear her:
“My name is Cindy Doe and I am here to represent the children of Ghana. I am very happy to be called upon to give a few words on the opening of the Mole XIX conference of the water and sanitation sector.
Six years ago, children like me spoke for the first time in the United Nations General Assembly and they presented a document called “A World Fit for us.” Since then, young people all over the world have been taking actions to make this world “World Fit for Us.” According to the children who participated in the world fit for children programme, there are no better people to consult on children’s rights than children themselves.
We have raised our voices and taken responsibility for those issues that directly impact us. Not long ago, the J8 also met and we the children made our input. As this year is the International Year of Sanitation, we the children of Ghana should not be left out. It is important to note that we are awake and will support Ghana to reach the MDG targets.
Sanitation is not a dirty word! Clean water and sanitation are very important to use as children because they are not only about hygiene and disease; they are about our dignity and development. This is why policy makers, opinion leaders and stakeholders gathered here today must make an effort to make proper sanitation accessible and available to everyone because everyone, that means ALL, have the right to a healthy life and a life with dignity. Everyone, including children have the right to sanitation.
Mr Chairman, if the current rate of sanitation delivery is not doubled or tripled, Ghana will miss the sanitation target of the MDGs. This will have serious impact on the development of Ghana, with children continuing to pay the price in lost lives, missed schooling, in diseases, malnutrition and poverty. In Ghana, over 80% do not have access to safe latrines.
Lack of toilets make women and girls vulnerable to violence if conditions force them to defecate only after midnight and in secluded areas. Improved sanitation enhances dignity, privacy and safety especially for women and girls. Schools with decent toilet facilities enable children, especially girls reaching puberty, to remain in the educational system.
“Clean, safe and dignified toilet and hand-washing facilities in schools help ensure that boys and girls get the education they need and deserve,” said Ann M Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director.
Sanitation is vital for health. Sanitation is a good economic investment. Sanitation leads to social development. Sanitation helps the environment. Sanitation is achievable.
To end, I will request that children are involved in decisions that affect us. Together, we can continue building a Ghana fit for us. Thank you.”
Later in an interview, Cindy added that as a matter of urgency, the government must provide urinals and toilets in all schools in the country so children do not have to defecate around because that pollutes the environment. She explained that some bathrooms in schools are too dirty so some children prefer to ease themselves in the bushes.
If we should go round rural communities in this country to encourage children to share their opinions about the state of their sanitation, we might hear the voice of Araba Atuah, a 16 year-old in an end-of-the-road village. Hear her: “Snakes hide in the pit latrines. One sunny afternoon, I saw a big snake on the wooden plank of a communal pit latrine. I resolved not to use the communal facility again. I think it is time we had our own household latrine.” (Culled from a PlanGhana poster.)
You would wish that Araba’s story is unique to our rural areas. The sad fact is that as a result of rapid urbanization, when all roads appear to lead only to our cities, the sanitation situation of children who live on the fringes of society in urban centres is no better than that of the rural child. There are urban/peri-urban children who live in kiosks, shacks, containers and all sorts of weird structures. Have you ever wondered: When street children have to ‘go’, where do they go? Nature calls everybody everyday. It is critical how all of God’s children respond to nature’s calls. In dignity!
Children are honest and can express their opinions freely if we let them and especially if we actively seek out their opinions. Adults are mechanical, a direct result of having lived for so long and losing innocence. If we admit that we adults are goners, almost on our way out of this earth, then we would also admit that this country is for the children. So why are we failing the next generation through poor management of our waste? In Les Miserables, Victor Hugo said: “The history of men is reflected in the history of sewers…. The sewer is the conscience of a city.” Where is our collective conscience?
dorisdartey@yahoo.com; +233208286817
Thursday, July 3, 2008
The unlikely making of an American president: Out of the groins of Africa
God surely has a sense of humour – a good one, a healthy one. As Kenya was melting down, confused about how to manage the outcome of elections, one of its sons was rising on an unlikely stage, competing with white people for the highest office of presidency of the ‘leader of the free world’ – USA. Obama appears to be on the right side of history and with an awesome ‘audacity of hope’, would become the 1st black President of the USA. Unless.....
In America, the tiniest drop of black blood renders a person black. Senseless, but that’s just the way it is. Enters racism – that irrational, ugly, nasty, sinking, stinky bigotry with an accompanying monstrous hydra-head. If America’s history is any predictor, Obama’s bid to the White House could fall prey to racist attack dogs or through sheer hesitancy motivated by racism, cast a wrench in his currently unstoppable path to the presidency. But like him, we remain clothed in hope and float on the wings of prayers to witness the making of history.
Not surprisingly, there is a resurgence of hate groups. White supremacists are “as mad as hell” over the prospect of a black-man becoming president. Some are making strange threats on the Internet with Obama’s successes awakening their otherwise dormant racist prejudices. And God is laughing, fully tickled. And Obama is looking as cool and collected as ever. It is as if the universe is conspiring to challenge America to show maturity and bring an end to the gloomy inhuman history of slavery and racism and to finally flip the page to a brighter future befitting this new century.
When Martin Luther King Jr made his “I have a dream” speech, the Negro he spoke of were the ‘sons of former slaves,’ quintessential African Americans with a concoction of hard-to-identify blood flowing through their veins – the product of years of brutal multiple crossings between the original and descendants of white slave masters, native Americans and African slaves of hard-to-know tribal origins.
Obama is directly from African groins. Once upon a time, a Kenyan male student in the 1960s America, Barack Obama Sr, went out to sow his naughty wild oats and moved on, abandoning little Obama to be raised white by his maternal grand parents. No statistics exist on the number of wild oats that have been sown by African men who have travelled the world and who have locked in the bosoms of women of all races for solace, albeit brief, and have left African droppings in all corners of the world.
They are in China, Ireland, Mexico, Australia and Canada. You name it: wherever our men have been, they have left footprints, changing the faces, features and colour shades of the races as God made them. Some of these children are claimed, some brought home, some never acknowledged, some conveniently forgotten about and left to the universe. I have met a few of such racial/nationality combinations during my life’s journey. Cameroonian-lipped Chinese-eyed, Nigerian-Irish, Ghanaian-Polish and over-sized fleshy Ashanti noses planted firmly but permanently on Norwegian faces – with a tan.
Of course, our women have not been left out of racial crossings. Even right on our shores, bi-racial kids have popped out of strictly-Ghanaian wombs. Chief among obvious remnants of biracial sexual escapades is a certain Flt Lft Jerry John Rawlings who, with audacity, ruled Ghana for 19½ years, the chunk of our political independence from colonial Britain. And Ghana lost her innocence in his now cushy bosom.
God has a sense of humour. Consider Obama’s undoubtedly Muslim-sounding names as USA President in this era of American paranoia with the T word – Terrorism! He is not a John like you know who in Ghana – but a Barack like Israeli politician, Ehud Barak. And Obama has an eerie resemblance with a certain Osama, who might still be hiding in the caves of Afghanistan or Pakistan, or might have returned to ashes via American bold and relentless bombings – un-identified, unclaimed, un-mourned. Then as if for good effect, his middle name is Hussein. Remember Sadam Hussein? The complete package of Obama’s name is another reason to place face to the ground and give obeisance to God for his unmatched sense of humour.
In the country that bears the deep scars of its racial past like an ugly badge of honour, Obama as USA President is a sweet story that will be told for years to come. It’s an epoch-making history that is being written every day as he boldly inches his way closer and closer to the White House. If you’ve ever been looked down on because of the colour of your skin (I have) and been called a nigger to your face (I have), then Obama’s journey feels like sweet revenge.
Obama has definitely tickled my racial pride. He is fresh, exciting, and a visionary not just by American standards but by international standards and expectations. How I itch for someone to rise up to inspire my motherland/fatherland with a fraction of this magnitude of hope.
I feel sorry for Obama though. He carries an enormous hydra-headed multi-coloured weight on his shoulders. On the surface, he is just a skinny bi-racial man who is running for president like many have run before him. But in his case, he carries burdens of expectations of messianic proportions.
Continental Africa and his half-homeland Kenya look up to him, cheering him on as the embodiment of this century as an African century. Black America holds him up as a test of how far they have come realizing the Martin Luther King ‘dream.’ White Americans with no racist bones, especially the youth, see a star shine. The Muslim world is excited, most probably because of his Middle Eastern sounding names. Even Chinese, Japanese, Thais, Indians and people in the most unlikely corners of the world are in high expectancy about this easily pronounceable name – Obama. So this former inner-city Chicago community organizer represents a “Beacon light of hope” for many as he takes a major leap of faith to challenge the status quo of white privilege. This is profound.
As I cast my mind back to homeland Ghana, I wonder – when can we begin to feel an Obama-like excitement and high expectation about any of our presidential candidates in this election year? Could it be that the flag-bearers of our leading political parties are on the wrong side of history? Contrary to what was said about President Nkrumah as having come ages before his time, the guys who have presented themselves for the presidency of Ghana might belong to an age that does not gel well with our times. I don’t feel and/or hear transformative messages from them. Or, is it just me?
But is there still balm in Gilead? Yes, there’s plenty of balm in Gilead. So go ahead, like Helen of Troy in Homer’s epic poem, the Odyssey, quaff some nepenthe, the ancient drug that induces forgetfulness, so you too can forget your cares about the future of Ghana while our beloved country floats on the wings of our prayers. Someday, our star will come and it will shine like no other. And Ghana will rise. And God will laugh – kwa kwa kwa – echoing throughout the universe.
dorisdartey@yahoo.com
In America, the tiniest drop of black blood renders a person black. Senseless, but that’s just the way it is. Enters racism – that irrational, ugly, nasty, sinking, stinky bigotry with an accompanying monstrous hydra-head. If America’s history is any predictor, Obama’s bid to the White House could fall prey to racist attack dogs or through sheer hesitancy motivated by racism, cast a wrench in his currently unstoppable path to the presidency. But like him, we remain clothed in hope and float on the wings of prayers to witness the making of history.
Not surprisingly, there is a resurgence of hate groups. White supremacists are “as mad as hell” over the prospect of a black-man becoming president. Some are making strange threats on the Internet with Obama’s successes awakening their otherwise dormant racist prejudices. And God is laughing, fully tickled. And Obama is looking as cool and collected as ever. It is as if the universe is conspiring to challenge America to show maturity and bring an end to the gloomy inhuman history of slavery and racism and to finally flip the page to a brighter future befitting this new century.
When Martin Luther King Jr made his “I have a dream” speech, the Negro he spoke of were the ‘sons of former slaves,’ quintessential African Americans with a concoction of hard-to-identify blood flowing through their veins – the product of years of brutal multiple crossings between the original and descendants of white slave masters, native Americans and African slaves of hard-to-know tribal origins.
Obama is directly from African groins. Once upon a time, a Kenyan male student in the 1960s America, Barack Obama Sr, went out to sow his naughty wild oats and moved on, abandoning little Obama to be raised white by his maternal grand parents. No statistics exist on the number of wild oats that have been sown by African men who have travelled the world and who have locked in the bosoms of women of all races for solace, albeit brief, and have left African droppings in all corners of the world.
They are in China, Ireland, Mexico, Australia and Canada. You name it: wherever our men have been, they have left footprints, changing the faces, features and colour shades of the races as God made them. Some of these children are claimed, some brought home, some never acknowledged, some conveniently forgotten about and left to the universe. I have met a few of such racial/nationality combinations during my life’s journey. Cameroonian-lipped Chinese-eyed, Nigerian-Irish, Ghanaian-Polish and over-sized fleshy Ashanti noses planted firmly but permanently on Norwegian faces – with a tan.
Of course, our women have not been left out of racial crossings. Even right on our shores, bi-racial kids have popped out of strictly-Ghanaian wombs. Chief among obvious remnants of biracial sexual escapades is a certain Flt Lft Jerry John Rawlings who, with audacity, ruled Ghana for 19½ years, the chunk of our political independence from colonial Britain. And Ghana lost her innocence in his now cushy bosom.
God has a sense of humour. Consider Obama’s undoubtedly Muslim-sounding names as USA President in this era of American paranoia with the T word – Terrorism! He is not a John like you know who in Ghana – but a Barack like Israeli politician, Ehud Barak. And Obama has an eerie resemblance with a certain Osama, who might still be hiding in the caves of Afghanistan or Pakistan, or might have returned to ashes via American bold and relentless bombings – un-identified, unclaimed, un-mourned. Then as if for good effect, his middle name is Hussein. Remember Sadam Hussein? The complete package of Obama’s name is another reason to place face to the ground and give obeisance to God for his unmatched sense of humour.
In the country that bears the deep scars of its racial past like an ugly badge of honour, Obama as USA President is a sweet story that will be told for years to come. It’s an epoch-making history that is being written every day as he boldly inches his way closer and closer to the White House. If you’ve ever been looked down on because of the colour of your skin (I have) and been called a nigger to your face (I have), then Obama’s journey feels like sweet revenge.
Obama has definitely tickled my racial pride. He is fresh, exciting, and a visionary not just by American standards but by international standards and expectations. How I itch for someone to rise up to inspire my motherland/fatherland with a fraction of this magnitude of hope.
I feel sorry for Obama though. He carries an enormous hydra-headed multi-coloured weight on his shoulders. On the surface, he is just a skinny bi-racial man who is running for president like many have run before him. But in his case, he carries burdens of expectations of messianic proportions.
Continental Africa and his half-homeland Kenya look up to him, cheering him on as the embodiment of this century as an African century. Black America holds him up as a test of how far they have come realizing the Martin Luther King ‘dream.’ White Americans with no racist bones, especially the youth, see a star shine. The Muslim world is excited, most probably because of his Middle Eastern sounding names. Even Chinese, Japanese, Thais, Indians and people in the most unlikely corners of the world are in high expectancy about this easily pronounceable name – Obama. So this former inner-city Chicago community organizer represents a “Beacon light of hope” for many as he takes a major leap of faith to challenge the status quo of white privilege. This is profound.
As I cast my mind back to homeland Ghana, I wonder – when can we begin to feel an Obama-like excitement and high expectation about any of our presidential candidates in this election year? Could it be that the flag-bearers of our leading political parties are on the wrong side of history? Contrary to what was said about President Nkrumah as having come ages before his time, the guys who have presented themselves for the presidency of Ghana might belong to an age that does not gel well with our times. I don’t feel and/or hear transformative messages from them. Or, is it just me?
But is there still balm in Gilead? Yes, there’s plenty of balm in Gilead. So go ahead, like Helen of Troy in Homer’s epic poem, the Odyssey, quaff some nepenthe, the ancient drug that induces forgetfulness, so you too can forget your cares about the future of Ghana while our beloved country floats on the wings of our prayers. Someday, our star will come and it will shine like no other. And Ghana will rise. And God will laugh – kwa kwa kwa – echoing throughout the universe.
dorisdartey@yahoo.com
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