This was after a trip to the facility by a three-man team of the EPA from Accra.

After a site tour, the EPA team concluded that, the plastic unit plant was not observing standards. Furthermore, the EPA said the company had no permit to process plastics, and was thus to shut down till a permit is issued.

“The fact of the matter is that, they are permitted to do the paper aspect of the operations. They may have been permitted for a plastic operation in Accra, but not for Asutsuare. On record, we don’t have that,” Executive Director in charge of Technical at the EPA, Ebenezer Sampong told Citi News.

Mr. Sampong indicated that, this was not the first time they were dealing with this issue as prior complaints had been made in relation to noise and the emissions.

But he added that “from our interaction with the teachers, it appears that the problem rests more with the plastic operations. So that is where we are going to focus our attention on.”

Relocation of school

Mr. Sampong also noted that, the school is sited in an industrial enclave, which is problematic, though plans are in place to have the school moved from the area.

“That process has to be hastened to ensure that eventually the school is moved from where it is now,” he further remarked.

“In the immediate term, the plastic facility has to comply with the requirements of our law, that is, the environmental assessment regulations. Facilities like that need to go through an assessment process and obtain a permit. They started before that, and we are going to ask them to close that part of the operations and then comply with the requirements… It means that you need to convince us that the continuous operation of this facility will not cause environmental damage,” he explained.

Assembly waiting on EPA

Speaking to Citi News earlier, the Assembly Member of the area, Jonathan Kwabla, had said the Assembly was awaiting a report from the EPA before taking any action on the factory

School’s closure

In Citi News’ first reports on the precarious situation at Osudoku SHS, the Headmistress of the school, Sylvia Baaba Yankey, revealed that the students were affected by the smoke from the factories that when some students with health problems were taken to the hospital, doctors thought they were smokers.

“We experience the fumes on the compound every now and then, some of them who took ill were taken to the hospital. According to some of them, the doctor advised them to stop smoking, meanwhile they don’t smoke,” the Headmistress said.

According to her, the pollution from the company had worsened such that they had no option than to send the students home for health and safety reasons.

Respiratory problems rampant  

The head of the Agricultural Science Department of the school, Martin Fianoo, confirmed the respiratory problems among students and staff at the school because of pollution from the factory.

“The children have been having respiratory difficulties when they go to the hospital; the doctors accuse them of being smokers. Not only the students, the staff also. One assistant headmaster in charge of administration also suffered same.”

Due to this, the assistant Headmaster was transferred to another school because he could not work in such an environment because of the effect on his health.

“…Because of that, he was transferred to the Amasaman Senior High School. So it is affecting both staff and the students. The assistant headmaster had a health issue with his lungs and because of that it aggravated his breathing mechanism. He underwent a surgery. The health problem worsened because of factory’s fumes,” he added.

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By: Umaru Sanda Amadu & Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Asutsuare: EPA orders closure of Chinese factory’s plastic unit appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Osudoku Senior High Technical School has been shut down because of a harmful smoke emitted from the company, which had allegedly caused respiratory issues for some of the students and staff.

According to the Agricultural Science teacher of the school, Martin Fianu, apart from the students and staff who are affected, the issue has become a major security threat because farmers around the factory are recording low yields.

[contextly_sidebar id=”8yBSK2iFLbNCbEHyA9O2y6Ixd7qpMc91″]Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Mr. Fianu claimed that, tilapia production along the Volta Lake, rice production at Asutuare, as well as banana farmers, are likely to be affected.

“The waste material from their paper is dumped into a drain which leads into a catchment drain of the canal. So the canal system where the catchment drain is supposed to protect the main canal from being breached is also now under threat. And it has gone all the way into polluting the drainage system and this drainage system discharges wastewater into the Volta.”

“If this continues, it means the rice production at Asutsuare, other agriculture producing companies like tilapia production, banana farms are all under threat because of the discharge from the factory. The factory fumes, together with the toilet roll fumes are causing serious problems,” the agricultural science tutor added.

Osuduku Sec/Tech  closed down

On the closure of the Osudoku SHS, the Headmistress of the school, Sylvia Baaba Yankey, earlier complained in a Citi News that doctors advised the students to stop smoking when they visit the hospital although they don’t smoke.

“We experience the fumes on the compound every now and then, some of them who took ill were taken to the hospital. According to some of them, the doctor advised them to stop smoking, meanwhile they don’t smoke”

According to her, the pollution from the company had worsened such that they had no option than to send the students home for health and safety reasons.

Respiratory problems rampant  

The Agric Science tutor also said on the Citi Breakfast Show that respiratory problems had become very common in the school due to the toxic fumes.

“The children have been having respiratory difficulties, when they go to the hospital; the doctors accuse them of being smokers. Not only the students, the staff also. One assistant headmaster in charge of administration also suffered same.”

Assistant headmaster transferred due to fumes

He said due to this, the assistant Headmaster was transferred to another school because he could not bear the toxic fumes.

“…Because of that, he was transferred to the Amasaman Senior High School. So it is affecting both staff and the students. The assistant headmaster had a health issue with his lungs and because of that it aggravated his breathing mechanism. He underwent a surgery. The health problem worsened because of factory’s fumes,” he added.

Assemblyman speaks

Also speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, the Assembly Member of the area, Jonathan Kwabla, said the Assembly is awaiting a report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for their next line of action.

“We haven’t met to take a decision on whether the factory should be relocated or not. The last time I spoke with the District Chief Executive, he said we are expecting a report from the EPA” he added.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post ‘Toxic waste’ from Chinese factory threatens Asutuare farmers appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.