The Global Youth Action Network (GYAN-Ghana), a
non-governmental organisation has asked government to take appropriate measures to prevent the indiscriminate disposal and burning of discarded electrical and electronic appliances in the country.
GYAN-Ghana, cited a spot near the Agbobloshie market in Accra where the dumping of obsolete appliances including computers, television sets, wireless and refrigerators is rampant.
A statement signed by Mr Alexander Botwe, National Co-ordinator of GYAN-Ghana, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said: "Some young people
gather and set fire to discarded electrical and electronic appliances and remove metal contents like copper and steel for sale."
It said, scientific experts have revealed that fumes from burning electrical and electronic appliances contain poisonous substances that are
injurious to human and animal life.
The statement said a project carried out by the NGO and Motherboard, a US-based Television outlet, to ascertain the environmental hazard of
electronic waste in developing countries, indicates that inhabitants around Agbobloshie area are suffering from respiratory and skin diseases and severe headache.
It called on the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology and its implementing agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure effective re-cycling of electronic wastes to prevent environmental
pollution and its associated health hazards.
The statement said: "We do not need only scientists or experts to tell us that smoke from burning electronics can results in air pollution, which can lead to headache lung or respiratory disorders, skin diseases apart from climate change."
It also called for the banning of the use of tyres as fuel for the preparation of slaughtered animals for sale by butchers.
"Apart from the meat being unsafe for human consumption, the odour from burning tyres makes people uncomfortable. It is obvious that burning tyres in the open is extremely harmful to human health and the natural environment."
It said research shows that fumes emitted from tyres are packed with many toxic chemicals, including volatile organic compounds such as benzene and metals such as lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon.