Just a few weeks ago, Parliament after series of postponements finally succumbed to the pressures from civil society organizations, to enact a law to ban public smoking. Even though the news is welcomed considering the health implications, it appears that it is not all we need and look for, to keep us and the environment healthy?
There are a pack of backward actions and in-actions that adversely affect our society- which public smoking could only be counted as one of them and a lot more left to do.
Once we have signed-on to prevent people from smoking in public, are we going to re-enforce our road traffic laws and ensure that people who sit behind the steering wheels are taking through the necessary training? And perhaps also do more to curtail the fraudulent documents most of these drivers possess?
What about the refuse that have engulfed the city of Accra and gradually taking over our so-called millennium city? For our choked gutters and inefficient waste collectors the least said about them the better.
Who is checking the inefficiency of our utility providers? And can the Ghana Water Company limited (GWCL) tell us the quantum of water they produce everyday and how much of it get to be used by the intended beneficiaries? Absolutely not! The inability of the GWCL to supply potable drinking water has often led to the scrabble for the commodity when there are burst pipes.
Who cares whether the ECG makes profit or not when we the contributors to that success will not benefit from it through improved services. They have either found one gadget short as an excuse not to improve quality with arguable increments in tariffs and no one, not even the Public Utility Regulatory Commission gets the answers to their questions...but who or what is the problem in the energy sector.
Sanitation has always been an issue though successive governments have always pledged to deal with the canker but to no avail. The walls of many buildings both public and private, as well as gardens have been turned to free-range urinals and places of convenience, as authorities watch on.
Will someone take the job of the mentally challenged man in the TV commercial who whipped people for urinating on the streets?
We are always in a haste to pass new laws but reluctant when it comes to its enforcement.
Whatever the reason may be, it surely does not have a positive effect on our human and national development and raises concerns on what our priorities are as a sovereign nation.
Until people begin to do the right thing without being pushed everyday to do it, we may never have the nation we dream of.