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Agbogbloshie

From Wikipedia
Agbogbloshie
commercial district, slum
CountryGhana Edit
Edey de administrative territorial entity insydAccra, Greater Accra Region Edit
Located in time zoneUTC±00:00 Edit
Located in or next to body of waterKorle Lagoon Edit
Coordinate location5°32′42″N 0°13′30″W Edit
Map
Ghanaians wey dey work insyd Agbogbloshie

Agbogbloshie be nickname for de commercial district on de Korle Lagoon for de Odaw River, near de center of Accra, Ghana ein capital city insyd de Greater Accra region, before dem demolish am by de Ghanian government insyd 2021.[1] Near de slum wey dem call am "Old Fadama", de Agbogbloshie site come know as a destination for externally generated automobile den electronic scrap wey dem dey collect from mostly de western world. Ebe center for legal den illegal exportation network for de environmental dumping of electronic waste (e-waste) from industrialized nations. De Basel Action Network, be small NGO wey dey insyd Seattle, wey dem de refer am as Agbogbloshie as ebe de "digital dumping ground", where dem dey allege millions of tons of e-waste dem process am each year.[2]

De most exhaustive study for de trade insyd de use electronics insyd Nigeria, funded by de United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) den de Basel Convention, wey reveal say from 540 000 tonnes for informally processed waste electronics, 52% of de material dem recover am.[3]

According to statistics from de World Bank, in large cities lyk de Accra den Lagos, de majority of households gey dema own televisions den computers for decades.[4] De UN Report "Where are WEEE in Africa" (2012) come disclose say de majority of used electronics dem see for African insyd dem dey dumps gey not insyd fact been recently wey dem dey import am as scrap, but edey originate from dese African cities.[5]

Dem site Agbogbloshie for de banks of de Korle Lagoon, northwest of Accra ein Central Business District.[6][7] Roughly 40,000 Ghanaians dey inhabit for dat area, most of whom dem dey migrant from rural areas.[6][8] Secof harsh living conditions den rampant crime, dem nickname de area as "Sodom and Gomorrah".[9]

De Basel Convention dey prevent de transfrontier shipment of hazardous waste from better countries to less better countries. However, de Convention dey talk specifically say make we allow dem export for reuse den repair under Annex Ix, B1110. Wey numerous international press reports talk say de majority of exports to Ghana dem dey dump, research by de US International Trade Commission wey dem find little evidence for de unprocess e-waste wey dem dey ship am to Africa from de United States.[10]

Whether dem dey domestically generate am by residents for Ghana or import am, concern remain over methods for waste processing — especially burning — wey edey emit toxic chemicals into de air, land den water. Exposure be especially hazardous to children, as dese toxins dem know am say edey inhibit de development for de reproductive system, de nervous system, den especially de brain. Concerns about human health den de environment of Agbogbloshie continue to be raise as de area remains heavily polluted.[6][11][12]

Insyd de 2000s, de Ghanaian government, plus new funding den loans, dem implement am as de Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project (KLERP), an environmental remediation den restoration project wey dem address de pollution problem by dredging de lagoon den Odaw canal say ego improve drainage den flooding into de ocean.[13]

Background

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Korle Lagoon, insyd Ghana ein capital city Accra.

Insyd de 1960s, de slum area of Agbogbloshie be wetland. As de city of Accra urbanized, ghetto grow, dem dey refer to am as Old Fadama anaa Ayaalolo.[2][8] During de 1980s, de ghetto be place for de shelter for refugees from de Konkomba-Nanumba war.[2] Insyd de late 1990s, newly available electricity from de Akosombo Dam dey lead to increase local demand for electric den electronic appliance consumption. Critics dey claim say that dis dey cause am imbalance shift.[8]

De electricity from de Akosombo dam dey increase demand for functional second-hand televisions den computers, dese dem dey import from de West by Africa ein technology sector say ego help 'bridge de digital divide'. Ghanaians dey welcomed dese donations, because dese computers dey cost one-tenth de price of a new one. De Basel Action Network dey circulate a claim insyd 2008 say 75 percent of dese second-hand electronics wey dem carry come Africa wey dem no dey reuse den end up in landfills.[8][14]

De BAN allegation ebe slightly different from ein 2002 claim of 80% waste,[15] wey come one of the most cite references insyd academic journals, though no documentation or peer reviewed source documentation wey dem make available.[16] Insyd 2013, BAN dey deny ever making de claim, or ever stating any statistic for African imports.

Economy

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De local economy of Agbogbloshie dem dey base am on onion market serving immigrants to Accra from de greater Tamale Region (Dagbani) insyd de north. Unemploy immigrants come turned scrap metal collection, wey dey include auto scrap, wey dey supplement incomes. Electronic scrap processing be fairly small activity at de market. De claim dat "hundreds of millions of tons of electronic waste are imported to de area each year",[2] as dem dey report am by several news sources, dem dem consider am by most experts to be utterly ridiculous den preposterous . However, dem gey evidence every month, an estimate 300 to 600 40-foot-long containers of e-waste shipments reach de ports of Ghana.[17]

Pollution

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Young men dey burn electrical wires say ego recover copper for Agbogbloshie, September 2019.
Agbogbloshie e-waste workers wey dey complete burn for copper recovery.

Restoration efforts

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Big refuse area, wey dey cause sanitation crisis dem clear am by authorities for construction wey dem fi see smoke for de far end
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  • De official video of de Placebo cover of Talk Talk ein song "Life's What You Make It" starts with "This film is wey dem dedicate am to de workers for de Agbogbloshie", den ends with "When you get rid of your cellphone, computer den home appliances, your cast-offs often go on a voyage across de oceans to Agbogbloshie. Agbogbloshie be former wetland, wey ebe now home to one de world ein largest electronic waste dumps. Here, young men den boys smash den burn electronic devices to salvage de metals insyd them". De whole video dem shot am on site for Agbogbloshie.
  • De murder mystery Children of the Street, by Ghanaian author Kwei Quartey, be partially set insyd Agbogbloshie, den references ein e-waste salvaging industry.

San see

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  • Guiyu (town), electronic waste site insyd China

References

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  1. ↑ Boakye, Edna Agnes (2021-05-20). "Relocate to Adjen Kotoku within seven weeks – Onion traders in Accra ordered". Citinewsroom - Comprehensive News in Ghana. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground". FRONTLINE/World. PBS. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  3. ↑ Ogungbuyi, Olakitan; Nnorom, Innocent Chidi; Osibanjo, Oladele; Schluep, Mathias (May 2012). e-Waste Country Assessment Nigeria (PDF) (Report). Secretariat of the Basel Convention.
  4. ↑ "World Development Indicators: The information society".
  5. ↑ "Basel Convention: Where are WEee in Africa?" (PDF).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Safo, Amos. "End of the Road for 'Sodom and Gomorrah' Squatters". News From Africa. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  7. ↑ Afenah, Afia. "(Re)claiming Citizenship Rights in Accra, Ghana". DPH. HIC (Habitat International Coalition). Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 "Time up for Sodom and Gomorrah". Peace FM Online. Daily Graphic. 4 September 2009. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012.
  9. ↑ Hugo, Pieter (July 24, 2011). "Ghana's e-Waste Dump Seeps Poison". Newsweek.
  10. ↑ U.S. International Trade Commission (February 2013). Used Electronic Products: An Examination of U.S. Exports (PDF) (Report). 4379.
  11. ↑ "Poisoning the poor - Electronic waste in Ghana". Greenpeace. 5 August 2008. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020.
  12. ↑ Dogbevi, Emmanuel K. (7 June 2010). "E-waste in Ghana – How many children are dying from lead poisoning?". Ghana Business News. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  13. ↑ "THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT [EIA] STUDY FOR THE DREDGING IN THE ODAW BASIN" (PDF). Ministry of Works and Housing: 5. February 2019.
  14. ↑ Darko, Richmond (25 August 2010). "Electronic Waste Dumping on Ghana Still Continues". Opinion. GhanaWeb.
  15. ↑ Puckett, Jim; Byster, Leslie; Westervelt, Sarah; Gutierrez, Richard; Davis, Sheila; Hussain, Asma; Dutta, Madhumitta (25 February 2002). Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia (PDF) (Report). Basel Action Network & Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition.
  16. ↑ Lepawsky, John (7 April 2016). "From Statements to Debates II". Reassembling Rubbish. Mapping E-waste as a Controversy. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  17. ↑ Amuzu, David (2018-06-03). "Environmental injustice of informal e-waste recycling in Agbogbloshie-Accra: urban political ecology perspective". Local Environment. 23 (6): 603–618. Bibcode:2018LoEnv..23..603A. doi:10.1080/13549839.2018.1456515. ISSN 1354-9839. S2CID 159029205.
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