The Communications Manager of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Ernest Morgan Acquah, has revealed that 70% of waste in Accra is collected, leaving 30% uncollected.
He further explained that large waste management companies, including Zoomlion, are responsible for collecting 80% of the waste, while local tricycle operators, known as “Aboboyaa”, collect the remaining 20%.
Accra has been grappling with chronic flooding issues over the years, exacerbated by clogged gutters filled with waste.
In an interview on Citi TV’s The Point of View with Bernard Avle, Dr Kwadwo Ohene Sarfoh, Project Coordinator, Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) Project hinted, “The sanitation people tell me we’re collecting in Accra something in the region of 70% to 80%.”
Dr Ohene Sarfoh acknowledged the significant amount of waste present on the ground.
“That is what we’re told by those who do the research. What we’re finding on the ground is quite a lot, though we have been doing regular clean-ups with the Assemblies. In just the first quarter, we’re aiming for around 250 tons per assembly for the month, we’re exceeding it for every Assembly. People are just throwing in the gutters and all of that.”
Asked on Citi TV’s The Point of View if indeed 70% of waste is collected and 30% not collected, Mr Acquah confirmed, “Yes.”
Mr Acquah expressed concern over the absence of a proper landfill site in Accra.
“We either treat or dispose of the waste when collected…. One big challenge we have in Accra, as we speak, there’s no final disposal site in Accra, so when we pick up the waste from Accra, we do a round trip of about 100 kilometres to go and dump it in a landfill site in the Eastern region – Adepa. Before we come back and collect the next set,” he lamented.
He shared that about 80% of the collected waste is disposed of, while 20% is recycled.
“Currently, in Accra, about 80% of the waste we pick, we dispose it, only 20% goes into the recycling plant,” he noted.
He stated that the waste disposal challenge has been addressed with the introduction of recycling plants in all 16 regions.
“Zoomlion has introduced the recycling plant across the country. Now we have a recycling plant in all the 16 regions,” Mr Acquah stated.
However, he criticised some “Aboboyaa” operators for their improper disposal of waste collected from smaller communities.
“There’s a breach with the collection. We have an influx of Aboboyaa now, so we will consider them as picking the waste. But most of them don’t dispose it rightly. We have transfer stations that some take the waste to us, others don’t.
“The problem is that some of them, when they pick it from the households, we’re counting them as picking the waste as part of the 70%. But the 70% they will go dispose it off at different places – Motorway, sometimes at night. When you ply the Tema Motorway, you will see heaps of waste.”
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