Waste picking is pivotal in achieving sustainable waste management, environment health and economic development in the era of sustainable development.
Plastic waste has become a lucrative business for children of school-going age between 6 and 15 years and some parents within the Gbalahi and Kulahi enclave in the Sagnerigu Municipality of the Northern Region.
With their hooks swinging and their sacks firmly held in their armpits, they hover around freshly dumped refuse.
They make between GH¢10 to GH¢35 a day from gathering plastic waste and selling to some middle men.
Even though most children from other communities troop to the landfill site to scavenge for plastic waste, majority are from the Gbalahi and Kulahi enclave.
They chase after refuse trucks and tricycles with their bare foot and dip themselves in the garbage without any recourse to the health implications all in search of plastic materials and other valuables.
Anything found here is important for the children including left over food and drinks that find its way into the heap of refuse.
For them, finding plastic waste and other valuables mean a lot to them than their health.
“This is what we do to feed ourselves and our families. We have become de facto bread winners of our families and our health comes last.
“You see this boy, he is just 6 years old and is here with us chasing after these trucks just to find something to sell.”
Livelihood issues
It is a clear case of survival of the fittest.
The level of poverty among the people and the zeal to make a living has pushed them to make the landfill site their source of livelihood.
Over 100 children are found on the landfill site every day to scavenge for plastic materials and other valuables.
Some eat and drink from left over packs and bottles on the smelly heaps of disposed waste that fill the atmosphere.
They are not even moved by the stench, flies and dirt from the landfill site, which has become their office.
According to some of the children, they barely eat at home and have to take up the challenge of fending for themselves.
One of them, Osman, told 3news.com his parents push him to come to the landfill site every morning and the day’s earnings used to feed the family.
“I am 12 years and a school dropout out. I have been doing this for the past three years and feed the family with it.
“This shirt has become my working gear and this shed my office. I have to come here everyday to put food on the table”
The story of his colleague, Taufic, is no different.
For Taufic, he dropped out from school because his parents could not buy him his learning materials and has to pick plastic waste, hoping to get back to school one day.
“I would have been in class 5 this year but I dropped out to pick these bottles here hoping to join again next year.”
Health and Education implication
Schools within these two communities are virtually empty as both attendance and enrollment are greatly impacted.
The Taha CHPS compound also records sanitation-related cases like cuts on the legs as well as suspected cholera cases amongst the children.
Even though health and education officials declined speaking on camera, they indicated off record that the existence of the landfill site is negatively affecting the health and education of the children in the area.
An opinion leader, Richard M. Sule, is worried the Sagnerigu Municipal Assembly is paying deaf ears to the plea of residents to fence the place to prevent children from having access to the place.
“What is preventing the assembly from fencing this place to deter the children from having access to the place?” he quizzed.
“A good number of these scavengers believe they have been fortified against ‘dirt diseases’ during their childhood and have developed natural immunity against diseases.
“We need to clear them off this place if we want to protect the future of these young ones.”
Intervention
Checks from the Sagnerigu Municipal Assembly reveal the assembly has no plans any time soon to fence the place to prevent children from accessing the place.
Section 8 of the Children’s Act 1998, Act 560, provides for the right to education and well-being of children.
It states: “No person shall deprive a child access to education, immunisation, adequate diet, clothing, shelter, medical attention or any other thing required for his development.”
Section 16 of the same act enjoins various assemblies to protect children.
It states, “A District Assembly shall protect the welfare and promote the rights of children within its area of authority and shall ensure that within the district, governmental agencies liaise with each other in matters concerning children.”
Despite the introduction of the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) policy in 1995 to provide the opportunity for every child of school-going age in Ghana to receive quality basic education, data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) some 28 years down the line shows that over 1.2 million children are still not in school due to several social constraints.
The future of hundreds of children living here will continue to hang in the balance if stakeholders and duty bearers fail to act now.
By Christopher Amoako|3news.com|Ghana