Shop keepers, traders grapple with stench and effluence from Tema Station restroom

A clogged septic tank at one of the main entrances of the Tema Station has broken down, spewing excreta into one of Accra's busiest bus terminals.When GNA got to the scene, it observed affected traders and shop owners scouring the unending flow of sewage.According to traders, the situation began on Wednesday.One trader disclosed that such situations had occurred multiple times in the past.'We have complained to them in the past to empty the pit as it has been overflowing from time to time.'This is the third time such a thing has occurred, and it is affecting our business,' one shopkeeper who identified herself as Aunty Akua told the GNA.Madam Mansa Agbasa, a trader, also informed the GNA that their protest about the plugged septic tank went unheard.She told the GNA how past and present incidents of spills have cost them financially because of low patronage by customers.'We have complained severally. Anytime we want to see the owner of the toilet they tell us he is not around. This is not the f irst time something like this has happened. The authorities must come to our aid,' she said.The GNA attempted to contact the facility's operators, who said that the situation happened because the septic tank was full of various kinds of solid waste.The operators refused to engage the GNA in the matter, and one of them received the reporter with resentment, threatening to damage the Agency's equipment for photographing him and his facility.However, other workers at the scene told the GNA that they had opened the septic tank to allow liquid waste to flow in a different direction, preventing it from reaching people's shops.They refused to discuss the direction in which the liquid waste flowed.An Editor at the GNA, Albert Ansah, contacted sanitation officers to take appropriate action to resolve the matter.Source: Ghana News Agency