For the country Ghana to look attractive for tourist all over the world to visit, and if the government and the people of Ghana really wants the country to be one of the best tourists destination countries in the world, then the country should consider embarking on building an underground drainage system.
Tourist who visit Ghana are promise to have a wonderful story to tell about the friendly people and delicious dishes, but the strong stench that emanates from opened gutters changes the atmosphere and subsequently the taste of the story to bitterness.
Ghana at 61 years, with very slow infrastructural development, town and city planning are very weak, couple with very poor drainage systems, which gives an increase to malaria and other diseases.
The opened sewage in the country produces horrific odours which prevent tourists from re-visiting the country.
Normally such ugly scenes shouldn’t be something to be seen in the city, but opened sewage are everywhere throughout the capital city of Accra, and some busy business areas. Just going around the Circle the back of the GCB towers, Kaneshie market, Madina market, Mallam market and the famous Accra railways area, these places will put you off to visit Ghana again as a tourist.
The government of Ghana heavily depends on the exportation of Ghana’s raw materials to the outside world, which in turns to supports the economy to grow. Surprisingly this revenue generated are not helping the country that much.
Prices for the country’s commodities given by foreign trade partners are nothing to write home about, with the unseen daily occurrence of corruption eating the country’s coffers.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has to find some means to generate tax, which would help get some funds to be used by the local government for the development of the country, and construct proper drainage systems.
Proper sanitation facilities and underground drainage system will not only increase Ghana’s revenue in tourism but also reduce the high rate of malaria infection in the country.
There are many African countries, including South Africa, Kigali, Uganda, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Egypt, Morocco, Tanzania, and Mozambique are making great revenue from tourism because of its well-planned waste disposal and drainage systems. The cities of these Africa countries can be compared to a city in Europe, because of its underground drainage system, which is helping the economy to grow.
On many occasions during heavy floods, people are carried away and many lose properties, but constructing underground drainage to save the lives of people or to increase revenue in the tourism industry hasn’t been an issue of concern to the Ghanaian government.
Ghana could have been a great tourist center but poor sanitation and drainage facilities prevent thousands of tourist yearly to visit the country.
By: Sheila WILLIAMS
