Proper waste management might happen to be a foreign term in Ghana’s capital city, Accra. Only 67% of the rubbish is collected. The worst scenario however, is that even the cemetery has turned into a rubbish heap, creating the reality of respect being an act bestowed only on the living.
Ken Carr is a digital entrepreneur in Accra, and he wasn’t far away from the Parliament building in the center of the town, when he saw a cemetery that was “buried under rubbish”.
Losing a family member is usually painful, and all that families expect after they have laid their relatives to rest is at least the sanity of the graveyard or cemetery. That includes a cemetery that provides a conducive environment for family members to once in a while visit the graveside of their loved one.
However, that is far from reality at Osu Cemetery in Accra. Ken Carr describes it as a horrifying sight where bottles, plastic bags, paper and also human excrement have rented a residential space.
“This cemetery is right in the centre of town. It’s only about 250 metres from the infamous Black Star Square and the Ghanaian Parliament building. I didn’t notice it until January 7, 2017 — the day that our new president, Nana Addo Akufo-Addo, was inaugurated. I was heading home in a taxi. It had been a historic day and I was feeling proud. However, when the taxi stopped at a red light, I suddenly smelled a nauseating odor. I looked up and saw a sign that said ‘cemetery’. At first, I thought it was the smell of bodies decomposing in their tombs, but it turned out to be the smell of the rubbish!”
He further adds that, the western wing of the cemetery was in an even worse state. According to the caretaker however, the residents are to blame. Lack of enough dumpsters at their disposal has resulted to the residents throwing their rubbish over the walls of the cemetery. Complaints from the families of those buried there, have fell on deaf ears.
“This situation made me reflect on the attitude of Ghanaians in general. We spend a huge amount of money on funerals but, ultimately, we insult people’s memory by covering their graves with rubbish. I hope that the photos I took will make people think. I also hope that the authorities will take the measures needed so that these burial grounds are respected,” Ken Carr says.
An estimated 13,000tons of rubbish is produced in Ghana, but despite the country being a recipient of the global electronic waste, little is done to promote some sense of sanity in the cemetery.
(Courtesy:France 24; The Observers)
