Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi has called on the Government, to support Jospong Group to tackle the sanitation challenges in Ghana.
In a statement made during a visit to some landfill sites in Western Region on Monday, April 12, Mr Akwasi Gyamfi commended waste management experts Zoomlion Ghana Limited for the construction of recycling plants across the country.
It was at a visit by the Parliamentary select committees on Local Government, Works and Housing, Environment, Science and Technology & Innovation together with Finance Committee.
“The current sanitation situation in the country is a worrying situation which he believes needs urgent attention from the government”.
“I believe it is high time the government support the private sector players to help the country fight the sanitation problem”, he added.
The Ranking Member for the Local Government and Rural Development Committee of Parliament, Nii Edwin Lantey Vanderpuiye in his address, also expressed the need for the government to improve the payment of stakeholders who will convey the rubbish to the recycling sites to help wipe their interest in conveying the rubbish to the area.
Mr Jabaah John Bennan, Member of Parliament for Zabzugu and also former Managing Director of Rusaben Waste Management also mentioned that the central government should give more attention to the contractors because they go through a lot.
The mayor of the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly Mr Abdul-Mumin Issah addressing the media at the Osofokrom landfill site said, that sanitation is a major challenge in the Western region and will therefore appeal to the government to work effectively with Zoomlion Ghana Limited to ensure the entire region becomes clean.
The General Manager of Waste landfills Mr Peter Kwei Dagadu also indicated that the project will add value to the system and therefore urged Ghanaians and the residents to embrace it.
“This is the best way things must be done. Ideally, every municipality or urban centre with more than 100,000 people should have a facility like this to take care of its waste challenges. a
Aside solving sanitation challenges, it will also provide compost, which is essential for agricultural and farming activities.”
The committee visited the landfill at Osofokrom in the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly(STMA) and the ongoing compost plant project at Assakae also in the Effia Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly(EKMA).