Accra, May 11, GNA - Opinion leaders in the Accra suburbs of Russia and Sukura have expressed concern about a consistent stench that had engulfed their environment, with some of them suspecting the dumping of human waste into drains in the area.

An Opinion Leader, Mr Emmanuel Abbey, who took the Ghana News Agency round the area, said the drains were choked with refuse including human waste.

The visit revealed a trend of haphazard development in the area with some new buildings sited on waterways while wooden kiosks sprung indiscriminately.

Most alarming was how cooked food was being sold to the public from positions very close to the stench-exuding gutters with the potential outbreak of environmental-related diseases such as cholera and typhoid. Speaking to the GNA, a resident, Sergeant Duncan Aboagye of the Russia Police Barracks, blamed the Assemblyman for not organising the people "to do something" about the choked drains.

"When it comes to the issue of cleaning the gutters and drains, many people are not prepared to help", Sgt Aboagye said, adding that he and some others had made several attempts to get the Assemblyman to provide tools for clean-ups, "but his response is always disappointing." "Our attitudes toward keeping and ensuring a clean environment needs to change for the better," he concedes.

In his response, the septuagenarian Assemblyman, Mr Joseph Kweku Aggrey, also blamed the Ablekuma Sub-Metro for not providing tools to enable him organise the people do clean-up the gutters. He said anytime he drew up a programme for a communal clean up, the Metro office always told him they were yet to receive the tools from the head office.

Mr Aggrey chided the residents for not showing commitment to clean environment saying, it was time everyone rose and took up the responsibility of ensuring a clean sanitation.

"It is their responsibility, as well as mine, to ensure a clean surrounding," he said, adding, "When you see your neighbour dumping waste into the drains you must challenge him".