College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS) Lecture Series

Starting January 1, 2001 - Ending January 1, 2001 Expired

TOPIC:      SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND IMPROVED SANITATION - A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY

SPEAKER:  Hon. Dr. Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije -- Metropolitan Chief Executive (Mayor of Accra)

DATE:       WEDNESDAY, 24 TH FEBRUARY, 2016

TIME :      3:30 PM

VENUE:    GREAT HALL.

 

ABSTRACT

Environmental Management are the measures put in place to ensure that humans make the best out of the environment without compromising on the ability of future generations. A sustainable environmental management system promotes among other things sound human health.  Environmental Management encompasses Sanitation (Solid, Liquid and Toxic waste mgt.), Improvement in water management and supply, Climate Change Development control, among others.  The main objective of a sanitation system is to protect and promote human health by providing a clean environment and breaking the cycle of disease. Urban Environmental Sanitation System comprises the users of the system, the infrastructure, the collection, transportation, treatment, and management of end products (human excreta, solid waste, grey water, storm water and industrial wastewater).  The Issue of Sustainable Environmental Management is a collective and shared responsibility of all, including stakeholders such as; Public Sector including the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), Private Sector, Development Partners, Academia, Civil Society, Media, Residents and Visitors

Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana.  It is also the anchor of a larger Metropolitan area, the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA)which is inhabited by about four million people and a transient population of one million. Under solid waste management, the total tonnage of waste generated in the city is about 3,000 tons per day. Out of this, two thousand five hundred (2,500) tons is collected daily leaving a backlog of 500tons. There is an arrangement with the Netherlands Embassy to construct a landfill site for proper waste management.  The Assembly is embarking on a project termed ARMECH Ghana Waste to Energy Project. This Project is aimed at recycling municipal waste to be converted into bio-energy. The sewerage network in Accra had seen very little extension and improvement since its construction in the early 1970s. In order to reduce to acceptable levels and finally eliminate the impacts of poor sanitation with respect to liquid waste management, a number of interventions being put in place as follows; Installation of Digesters/Septage Dewatering Plant, Rehabilitation and Expansion of the Mudor Sewage Treatment Plant (16,120m3/day - 18,000m3/day), Treatment of Septage/Faecal Matter in Accra, Accra Sewerage Improvement Project, Procurement of Sewer Maintenance Equipment and Cesspit Emptiers, Provision of toilet facilities and mechanized boreholes and provision of potable water.

Under storm water and drains maintenance, the Assembly every year undertakes routine maintenance works on storm water drains in the Metropolis to alleviate flooding. After the 3rd June, 2015 disaster, the Assembly has engage in the massive desilting and dredging of the odaw channel, Korle and Klottey Lagoon and removal of unauthorized structure along water ways to prevent the incidence of flooding.  Preparatory activities are still on-going to ensure the implementation of the Accra Sanitary Sewer and Storm Water Drainage Alleviation Project (AS3DAP). This project seeks among other thing abate perineal flooding in Accra and Upgrade the drainage infrastructure primarily within the Odaw Basin including, closing open drains, de-silting, dredging, new siltation ponds, and the removal of refuse from priority drains and lagoons.

Under Urban Resilience, the City of Accra has joined the 100 Resilient Cities. For Accra to be part of the 100RC means that the City is ready to be an integral member of the community of pioneers, innovators and highly esteemed cities ready to build urban resilience across the globe.  Urban resiliency involves identifying shocks and stresses and developing capabilities of institutions to manage and plan for all eventualities. The Shock in Accra include; Diseases-Cholera, Flooding, Building failure, Fire outbreaks, and Road Safety. The Stresses include; Lack of affordable housing, Inequitable access to public services, Sanitation and hygiene. Measures to Address Shocks and Stresses include; intensified public sensitization and screening of food vendors against cholera, Prosecution of sanitation offenders, Dredging of the Odaw and Korle Lagoon, Regular desilting of Storm water drains and road side drains, Renovation of Markets and Redevelopment of major markets, Rewiring of markets through the MiDA project, The City has signed up to the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety to reduce the level of accidents and ensure best practices on our roads.

Climate change is cited as the cause of global warming which results in drought, heat waves, irregular rainfall pattern, flooding, desertification to name a few. The City of Accra is not exempted from these effects. It is considered by experts as contributing factor to the 3rd June flooding. As measures to address the adverse effects climate change possess, the Assembly has subscribed to the C40 leadership group which is a network of World’s Megacities taking action to; Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and Implement meaningful and sustainable climate related actions that will help address climate change locally

Sustainable Environmental Management and Improved sanitation is a shared responsibility and as such all stakeholders should endeavor to play their respective roles to ensure the sustainability of the present generation as well as the future generation. As faculty members and students who will become future leaders, we have a significant and responsible role to play in ensuring sustainable environmental management practices.

 

PROFILE

Hon. Dr. Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije was born in Accra, Ghana on the 4th of November 1955. After training in Ghana as a professional teacher, he continued his education in the United States of America and acquired the following Degrees;

·         BA, Education Administration, 1990 Missouri, Kansas, USA

·         MA, Education, 1995, Mid-American Nazarene University, Olathe, Kansas USA

·         Doctor Humane Letters, 2012, Conferred by Benedict College, Columbia, South Carolina, USA 

 

In April, 2009 The Hon. Dr. Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije was nominated as Metropolitan Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly by His Excellency Professor Evans Atta Mills, the President of the Republic of Ghana and on 25thMay, 2009, was confirmed by Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) as the Metropolitan Chief Executive of Accra by Hon. Assembly MembersHe was again nominated by His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana to serve the second term and was confirmed by the Assembly on 30th June, 2013.

Under his leadership as Mayor of Accra, Hon. Vanderpuije introduced the seven (7) Focus Areas for Action Planning to serve as a road map for development in the City of Accra. These Focus areas are also consistent with the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA II) the National Development Policy Framework. The Focus Areas include the following; Education, Sanitation, Roads and Transportation, Revenue Mobilization, Decongestion and Beautification, Community Upgrading, Redevelopment of Infrastructure.

Mayor Vanderpuije has earned numerous International awards during his tenure as Mayor of Accra. Notable among them are the following; He worked in close collaboration with Dr. Jeffery Sachs of the Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, USA to declare Accra as a Millennium City on 15th January, 2010. As a result of his hard work and immeasurable contribution towards global development dialogue, Mayor Vanderpuije was elected as President of the Global Alliance of Mayors and Leaders from Africa and of African Descent on 21st September, 2014. He was again awarded the best Mayor in Africa by the Jose dos Santos Africa Mayor Award on28th April, 2015.

Through the instrumentality of Mayor Vanderpuije, Accra was selected as one of the 100 Resilient Cities by the Rockefeller Foundation (100RC) on 3rd December 2014. The City was also selected for Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety on 12th February, 2015.

Mayor Vanderpuije was privileged to be part of selected Mayors of the World invited to the Vatican, Rome by Pope Francis to deliberate on the new United Nations Seventeen (17) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) before they were globally adopted by the United Nations (UN) at the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly held in New York in September, 2015.