The La Dade-Kotopon Municipal Health Director, Dr. Caryn Agyeman Prempeh, has warned residents against open burning of waste, stressing that the smoke produced does not remain at the point of burning but becomes part of the air breathed by people in surrounding communities.
According to her, open burning of household waste, plastics and other materials exposes residents to harmful pollutants and can contribute to coughing and breathing difficulties.
“Within our municipality, emissions from vehicles, which we can see around us today, dust construction activities, and particularly open burning of household waste, plastics, and other materials can expose our population to harmful pollutants,” she said.
Dr. Agyeman Prempeh made the remarks on Thursday, August 27, 2025, during a public education engagement on air pollution exposure and its health effects at La Township, near the Old Fraga Oil area.
She cautioned residents against assuming that burning waste is a harmless solution to poor waste management.
“Let me bring it home, the fact that you are opening burning your waste because the waste management haven’t come for it and you think you are doing something good, you are not being kind to your sister or neighbour,” she said.
“These exposures can contribute to coughing, difficulty in breathing, which in asthmatic patients it’s not a nice thing for us at all,” she added.
The Municipal Health Director emphasised that the effects of open burning extend beyond the person who starts the fire.
“We must remember that when waste is burned, the smoke does not remain where the fire is, it is part of the air we all breathe,” she said.
Dr. Agyeman Prempeh further described open burning as a practice that should be discouraged and urged residents to support efforts to reduce it in their communities.
“Open burning is generally not a good practice. We hope that eventually through this engagement and action plan, the community would understand that the effect of starting open burning is not just the surrounding but effectively, we are inhaling the smoke that comes from the burning,” she said.
She said the health consequences of the practice outweighed whatever benefit residents might derive from burning waste.
“The results is not very good as compared to what you benefit from starting an open fire. We pray, we urge everyone to take this engagement as the start of a very important action for the community and Ghana as a whole,” she added.
Dr. Agyeman Prempeh also called on residents to become “each other’s keeper” by reporting persistent cases of open burning.
She said residents could contact the campaign’s emergency line or WhatsApp number, 0579724072, with concerns about air pollution or cases of open burning in their communities.
The engagement formed part of the ‘Healthy Lungs, Healthy Life’ campaign organised by Infinity 970 with support from Breathe Cities to educate the public on air pollution exposure and its impact on health.
