The school was closed down last week after pollution from a Chinese company, Shinefeel Ghana Limited, sited close by the school, made it unbearable for both students and teachers.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Q0KZ1iC2ooiT9YrV5Qg25V4JsNSf53yv”]The Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], on Tuesday, shut down the plastic processing unit of the company, following reports by Citi FM.

Baaba Yankey told Citi News that the school will not hesitate to sound the alarm bell should the company breach EPA’s directive.

“We are reopening today. Members of Staff are happy about the situation. For now, we wait to see whatever will happen.. If we have the cause to worry again, we’ll definitely talk again,” she said.

‘Why the school closed down’

The over 1,200 students of the school including beneficiaries of the government’s Free SHS program were last week asked to go home, a decision management took to protect them from the health hazards of the activities of the factory, Shine Feel Ghana Limited.

The headmistress told Citi News the decision was taken because they could no longer endure the harmful smoke emitted by the factory.

She lamented that, the pollution from the company had worsened such that they had no option than to send the students home.

“The students agitated that because of the smoke they could not stay. The boy’s dormitory and the classroom block are close to the factory. Since Tuesday the stench and the smoke which for some time now has subsided erupted again. Ghana Education Service is very much aware of the situation,” she added in a Citi News interview.

‘EPA closure’

Following reports by Citi News on the matter, the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], ordered the shut down of the plastic processing unit of the company.

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.”

We’ll adhere to EPA’s directives – Shinefeel company

Shortly after the directive, managers of the Shinefeel Ghana Company Limited said they will comply with it.

The factory’s manager, John Dziwornu, told Citi News “as a responsible organization, we operate within the law so we’ll act on it [the EPA directive].”

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Osudoku SHS reopens today after Chinese factory’s partial closure appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The factory’s manager, John Dziwornu, told Citi News, “as a responsible organization, we operate within the law so we’ll act on it [the EPA directive].”

[contextly_sidebar id=”9W8qb454mWJGeuuHLdbTpRcjBeeQZibi”]After a trip to the facility by a three-man EPA team, it was concluded that the plastic unit of the plant was not observing the agency’s standards.

This was after the Osudoku SHS closed down due to the emissions from the factory, now confirmed as harmful.

The EPA said the Shinefeel had no permit to process plastics in the Asutsuare area, and must shut down till a permit is issued.

Company providing jobs

Despite having been operating without a permit, Mr. Dziwornu insisted that, the factory was not trying to cheat the system.

He instead said his outfit was operating for the betterment of the society by, among other things, providing jobs.

“We are providing jobs for people. The government wants every district to have a factory and we are creating jobs. If you look at the value chain, it is quite huge and the amount of money that it takes to bring all these things around the value chain.”

On the EPA’s urge to fast track the possible relocation of the school, Mr. Dziwornu said that was up to the Ghana Education Service.

“It is a decision by the Ghana Education Service because the government has to provide them with accommodation and other things. We as a company with corporate social responsibility will continue to support any initiative that will spur the development of the school,” he said.

School’s closure

In Citi News’ first reports on the 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.

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.

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

The post We’ll adhere to EPA’s directives – Shinefeel company appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.