Public Agenda (Accra)
11 August 2008
editorial
Accra — The dumping of electronic waste on Ghana by the industrialized countries has reached disastrous proportions, as each week several container loads of obsolete, computers and television sets are cleared at the Tema Harbour and driven into town with fanfare.
While the importers are making several thousands of cedis from their trade, little thought is being given to the fact that most of the items are contaminated with hazardous chemicals.
According a recent report by Greenpeace, e-waste is currently among the fastest growing waste streams across the world because of the exponential growth in the use of electronic equipment, especially computers.
The research revealed that some of the e-waste arriving in Ghana contain toxic metals including lead in quantities as much as one hundred times above levels found in uncontaminated soil and sediment samples. Some of these substances also contain phthalates which is known to interfere with sexual reproduction, besides a high level of chlorinated dioxins known to promote cancer.
The danger is that many children engaged in collecting, dismantling and assembling the e-waste do not wear any protective equipment and are exposed daily to lethal doses of hazardous chemicals like mercury and lead.
That aside, many of the chemicals have the potential of affecting children's reproductive systems, while others can affect the brain and nervous development of the children.
E-waste dumping has serious repercussions for the country since the waste products are dismantled on the banks of the lagoon and other water bodies and when it rains the toxic chemicals are flushed into the water bodies.
It is a known fact that Ghana's environmental restrictions are so lenient and this accounts for the increasing exportation and dumping of e-waste in Ghana.
Government should therefore, as a matter of urgency implement existing regulations and introduce stringent laws to curb the uncontrolled importation of e-waste.
The EPA should institute regulations and by-laws that would make it impossible for the developing countries to dump their e-waste on the country.
The government agencies at the harbours should examine the type of goods that are brought into the country and ensure that they fall within internationally accepted standards; since many of the developed countries tend to bring the products as donations.
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