Editorial

Parents must support their children with special needs

Overcoming stigmatisation at all levels in society is one campaign almost every civil society organisation is tackling.

From menstrual hygiene, breast cancer, HIV/AIDS to crime-related stigma; these organisations have gone to extreme lengths to create awareness to make it easier for victims to be accepted in the society.

It is, therefore, strange to read about a call on parents that takes their children with special needs to Special or Care Homes to be catered for and eventually, abandon them.

That is wickedness at the highest level.

According to a report published by this paper, some parents and guardians have turned these special schools into ‘dumping grounds’ where they take their wards and leave them to their fate.

These parents refuse to visit the children for the period they stay at the facility and care less about their state of health.

The worse of all is that such parents would not even attend meeting of parents to discuss the welfare of these children that needs the support of their parents to survive.

The Spectator finds the situation very offensive and unacceptable considering the fact that these children have no hand in their formation and did nothing to contribute to their present form.

The timing also make it very startling because of the several campaigns on this social canker called stigmatisation.

The truth is, we have gone past the era where a certain level of stigmatisation was allowed because the mode of transmission of certain diseases were actually not clear.

In this era, there is information everywhere on how people who had been released from detentions, people who have recovered from certain sicknesses etc should be integrated into society.

So, having overcome some challenges, The Spectator wonders why parents in this age would ‘dump’ their wards somewhere.

This paper, therefore, affirms the call on such parents to rather encourage their special children so that their talents can be harnessed

Editorial

Let’s respect the dead

Dear Editor,

Growing up as a young man, I watched how families of deceased persons paid respect to their beloved ones.

Right from the mortuary to the funeral grounds, the mortal remains of the deceased are always handled with respect to honour them.

Most of the time, individuals who visit the mortuary to bring the body of the deceased home were required to wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water.

A traditional belief holds that seeing or coming into contact with dead bodies portends a bad omen and may require spiritual cleansing.

However, in recent times, I have seen a number of videos on social media where corpses are handled without care.

In some of these videos, one could see the body of the corpse carried on the shoulders of friends or being made to stand while friends and families touch and take pictures with it.

I find that weird and at the same time disturbing and thinks a lot about the health implications.

According to some health experts, such an act poses a threat to public health as one may not know the cause of the death of the deceased.

Some have predicted that Ghana could face health crisis such as disease transmission as a result of the pathogens present in decomposing bodies, if care was not taken.

As a concerned individual, I share in the view of the health experts.

I believe that if care is not taken, the actions of the youth in handling dead bodies could lead to the spread of diseases.

I, therefore urge the Ghana Health Service to take the issue seriously and address it to avoid any possible future health crisis.

Atom,
Korle-bu

Editorial

Prevent Keta Township from being engulfed by sea

Have you ever dreamed about waking up to discover that everything you own—including your mattress, roof, and all of your memories – has been lost to the sea?

Since the sea has consumed a sizable portion of Keta in the Volta region, the town’s citizens are in a pitiful position. The sooner action is taken to save the town, the better off everyone will be.

The destruction of the Keta by the sea needs to be addressed immediately, or else the township would eventually be submerged under the water.

Our reporter’s visit showed that this once-thriving seaside resort is gradually disappearing. Keta was once a thriving town known for its business, but now some areas are in ruins, with some of the locals looking on in wonder at the destruction caused by the water.

For the residents of Keta, the Atlantic Ocean is no longer a far-off blue horizon. These days, it relentlessly and without invitation circles around their doorsteps, tearing down walls and other structures, erasing memories, and endangering lives.

Many locals have been forced to live with family or friends after the sea destroyed their homes years ago, and other residents find it hard to comprehend that their once-livable habitat is now in ruins.

The problem is that, apart from residences, Keta’s cultural identity being anchored by monuments are gradually disappearing. One remnant of the transatlantic slave trade, the once-imposing Fort Prinzenstein, is now more of a ruin than a monument.

Once more, the ancient cinema where generations of children used to laugh at flickering black-and-white pictures is no longer there, as is the Bremen factory from the colonial era.

Among other things, the original police station has vanished, and Queen Street, which was once the town’s busy backbone, is now a flooded hallway clogged with rubble. There is still more work to be done despite previous attempts to address the issue since the town is fighting while the sea is winning.

Although water is life, in this instance, it is ruining people’s homes. The situation is serious since the water is destroying the town’s past as quickly as it is claiming its future, despite nature taking its course.

But as humans, our Creator has endowed us with the intelligence to solve problems. The historic town of Keta is now shrouded in uncertainty as the remains of a once-inhabited township are submerged and engulfed by the approaching seas along its coast.

Therefore, it is more efficient to have everyone working together to find a long-term solution to this terrible issue