The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Kasoa, Seth Sabah Serwonoo-Banini, has addressed growing public health concerns following allegations of poor liquid waste management at the Kasoa Polyclinic and its impact on the surrounding Walantu community.
According to him, the immediate challenge arose after shoddy plumbing works at the facility resulted in burst pipes and the discharge of liquid waste, a situation the assembly has since moved to correct.
Speaking on Channel One TV and monitored by NewsDesksGH on January 28, Mr. Serwonoo-Banini explained that a similar issue had occurred last year and was resolved, but this latest incident affected the frontage of the health facility.
“Sometime last year, similar issue came up and we went in to address the issue. This time around it was the frontage of the facility so we quickly got in to address the issue,” he said.
He disclosed that upon engaging the Medical Superintendent of the Kasoa Polyclinic, he was informed that a private plumber had been contracted for the work, but abandoned it midway.
“When I interacted with the medical superintendent she tells me that they contracted one of the artisans that is a plumber to do some work and he did a shoddy work, left it halfway and then left,” he stated.
The MCE said he was surprised by the decision, noting that the municipality has technical personnel who could have provided proper assistance.
“But to go off and get someone by the roadside to do a shoddy work for this development to happen, it was unfortunate,” he added.
Mr. Serwonoo-Banini said once the matter was brought to his attention, he immediately intervened and arranged for qualified personnel to lay new pipes to fix the problem.
He further acknowledged that addressing the broader sanitation and fecal waste drainage challenges in the area would require significant financial resources.
“At the other side of the road there is a contractor that is working to develop the drain from that side. Once that gets connected into the main drain, the assembly will mobilize funds to address this articulated issue,” he explained.
The Kasoa MCE confirmed that Walantu is an old settlement that existed long before current development efforts began.
“This settlement has been there for so many years even before they started work,” he noted.
He, however, assured residents that the assembly is putting together a joint task force to manage the situation, particularly due to public health risks.
“We are mobilizing for the assembly a joint task force to address the situation. Especially when we have people vending food from that place to make sure that we do not go back into the cholera issues that were recorded two years ago,” he said.
Seth Serwonoo-Banini also highlighted the planning challenges associated with the area, describing it as an unplanned settlement that may require difficult but necessary interventions.
“This has been an unplanned settlement for many years and so any major structure development that will have to come out, certainly some existing structures will have to give way. We would have to consider the greater good of the entire municipality than one or two structures,” he noted.
He added that they would need proper engagement and public education to be able to go about resolving the issue without resistance.
