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The Group Head for Government Relations, Environment and Sanitation Processing Cluster at the Jospong Group of Companies, Ms. Betty Brown Nyad has called on journalists to intensify coverage of waste management issues, urging the media to move beyond reporting sanitation crises to investigating the policies, financing arrangements and institutional challenges affecting the sector.
She said sustained media attention was crucial to ensuring accountability, promoting sustainable sanitation practices and driving the reforms needed to strengthen Ghana’s waste management systems.
Speaking at a two-day workshop organised by the Parliament of Ghana for the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC), Ms Nyadu stressed that waste management should be treated as a national development priority rather than an issue that attracts public attention only when drains are choked, refuse accumulates on streets or communities are devastated by floods.
“Ghana needs the media to report on waste management more than ever before,” she said, urging journalists to investigate the underlying causes of sanitation challenges and hold relevant institutions accountable for their responsibilities.
According to her, effective waste management extends beyond the collection and disposal of refuse, requiring sound policies, adequate financing, modern infrastructure, appropriate technology and strong institutional coordination.
She noted that poor waste management has far-reaching consequences for public health, economic productivity, climate resilience and national development.
Choked drains, she explained, contribute to flooding, which damages homes, roads, markets, businesses and public infrastructure. Poorly controlled waste disposal also contaminates water sources, degrades land and creates conditions that encourage the spread of diseases.
She further warned that open burning of waste contributes to air pollution, while the uncontrolled decomposition of organic waste releases methane, undermining Ghana’s climate ambitions.
Ms Nyadu observed that businesses lose productive hours when flooding disrupts commercial activities, while government is compelled to spend scarce resources responding to emergencies that could be prevented or mitigated through effective planning and infrastructure investment.
She therefore challenged journalists to deepen public understanding of the economic and environmental costs of poor sanitation.
On the root causes of flooding, Ms Nyadu called on the Parliamentary Press Corps to go beyond reporting visible sanitation problems and examine the policies, contracts, funding arrangements and institutional decisions that shape service delivery.
She encouraged journalists to investigate whether waste management systems are adequately financed, whether service providers are paid on time, whether contracts reflect the actual cost of delivering services and whether local authorities have the resources and equipment required to fulfil their responsibilities.
She also urged the media to examine the fate of collected waste, including the quantities recycled, composted or recovered for productive use.
“The media must help Ghana understand not only what is going wrong, but also why it is going wrong and what must change,” she said.
She argued that such reporting would help shift the national conversation from reacting to sanitation emergencies towards preventing them through evidence-based policies, effective planning and sustained investment.
A major concern raised by Ms. Nyadu was the need for fair and sustainable pricing in the waste management sector.
She explained that waste management was not a cost-free public service and that when pricing and financing arrangements failed to reflect the actual cost of service delivery, the resulting financial gaps could undermine operational efficiency and long-term sustainability.
According to her, inadequate funding could result in unpaid obligations to service providers, deferred maintenance, insufficient equipment, deteriorating infrastructure and reduced investment in new facilities.
She called for a transparent, evidence-based and accountable pricing system that reflects the genuine cost of delivering the required services.
“A price that appears cheap on paper but cannot sustainably support the required service may ultimately cost the country much more,” she cautioned.
Ms Nyadu urged journalists to scrutinise how waste management services are priced, how contracts are structured, how payments are made and whether existing arrangements can sustain the quality and reliability of services expected by the public.
She stressed, however, that such scrutiny must be balanced, examining both the cost of providing services and the consequences of failing to deliver them adequately.
She maintained that fair pricing was not merely an industry concern but a public-interest issue because the sustainability of waste management services affects every Ghanaian.
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Source: www.frontpageghana.com/Ghana
