As a measure to prevent evacuated spaces in the country are not used as refuse dumping sites again, authorities in the country, beginning from the North East Region, will be turning them into recreational centers.
Already, the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources has evacuated an over 100-year-old dumpsite in Duayaw Nkwanta, Tano-North Municipality of Ahafo Region, as nationwide emergency dumpsites evacuation continues unabated.
Northern East Regional Minister, Solomon Namliit Boar, who spoke to the media on the sidelines of the Emergency National Refuse Evacuation Exercise this week said the region will also ensure refuse containers were put at vantage points and emptied once they get filled up.
Three key towns in the region were benefiting from the exercise by the Sanitation and Water Resources Ministry to get rid of aged and illegal refuse dumps across the country. These towns are Nalerigu, Gambaga and Lamgbinsi.
Sustenance
Leading the exercise in the regional capital, Nalerigu, Mr. Boar said he will make sure the exercise is sustained to support the President’s sanitation agenda. “We are not just going to leave the cleared sites like that we will turn them into recreational centres so that people will not go back to throwing refuse there again,” he said.
Mr. Boar disclosed that the region will also take up the challenge to periodically get rid of refuse dropped in waste bins in the area. On how the programme will be sustained, the regional minister said the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) will coordinate the assemblies in the area to make it a part of their action plans in order to keep the region clean.
Easing financial burden
Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the East Mamprusi Municipality, Danladi Abdul-Nashir, on his part, revealed that the exercise has come to help ease the financial burden on the assembly. According to him, the assembly spent GH¢27,000 to get rid of refuse in the area.
“We are very happy that the sanitation ministry has come to our aid because this has been a big problem for us. Each time people complain to us but due to financial constraints we are unable to get rid of the refuse. Last year, we spent over GH¢27,000 to clear some dumpsites and so this will save us some money,” he stressed.
Collaboration
On what the assembly will do, Mr. Abdul-Nashir said they will work with waste management giants, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, to periodically empty the refuse containers in the area. The nationwide exercise to get rid of aged and illegal dumpsites is part of government’s agenda to rid the nation of filth.
Omanhene of Duayaw Nkwanta Traditional Area, Nana Boakye Tromo, commended the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for initiating such a social initiative to bring relief to himself and his people.
Municipal Chief Executive, Tano-North Municipal Assembly, Ernest Kwarteng, explained that the municipality do not have the capacity to embark on evacuating such a huge dumpsite, noting that it will take over two years of the assembly’s common fund to undertake such a project.
Municipal Environmental Health and Sanitation Officer, Tano-North Municipal Assembly, Esther Tegah, who is in charge of sanitation and environmental issues in the locality indicated that her outfit is going to embark on strict monitoring and sensitisation exercise after the evacuation to ensure that the dumpsites do not return to their previous states or even worse off.
“We are in talks with Zoomlion to provide more containers, so we are going to monitor and ensure they clear it just when it gets full as well as clear any spillage that will happen to ensure the place is always clean and friendly to the environment,” she said.