Local Government Minister Mahama Ayariga has pledged a comprehensive transformation of Ghana’s waste management sector, vowing to enforce payment of rates and hold stakeholders accountable for sanitation challenges across the country.
The Minister made the commitment yesterday during a tour of waste management facilities in Accra, where he inspected operations at the Lavinder Hill in Korle-Bu, Achimota-Abofu Transfer Station, Kpone Landfill Site, and Zoomlion’s Accra Compost and Recycling Plant at Adjen Kotoku. Accompanied by Greater Accra Regional Minister Linda Ocloo and other officials, Ayariga said the overhaul was necessary due to the serious environmental and public health implications of poor waste management.
At the Kpone Landfill Site, which serves Tema, Kpone-Katamanso and parts of Accra, officials observed that the facility had reached full capacity, with a strong stench emanating from the area. Speaking to the media, Ayariga emphasised that the Ministry would insist on companies and property owners paying required rates to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs). “If we collected the market rates and all the rates that everybody is supposed to pay to the city authorities, I am confident that a situation like this will not be beyond our capacity,” he stated.
The Minister firmly rejected using the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) to finance waste management in Accra, arguing that the fund should be distributed to all MMDAs for local development nationwide. “You cannot choose to come and live in Accra and common fund that should come to me in Nadowli will be used to fund your lifestyle in Accra,” he emphasised, calling on factories, companies, households and other stakeholders to support the government in addressing the country’s sanitation challenges.
Ayariga announced that the Ministry would soon launch a campaign against improper sanitation practices, attributing much of the waste problem to indiscipline among citizens. He urged Ghanaians to demand accountability from government officials and agencies when rates paid were not used for their intended purposes, and said he would immediately engage MMDCEs, Regional Ministers and other stakeholders on waste management and its financing.
Meanwhile, Dr Fatima Farouk Elsheikh El Toum, Vice President of Operations of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), commended the government’s commitment to waste management and pledged her organisation’s support for initiatives aimed at tackling the challenge.
EcowasNewsOnline.com
