By Valentia Tetteh
For decades, mountains of waste have occupied large portions of the Korle Lagoon enclave, posing serious environmental and public health concerns and leaving the government with the challenge of restoring the area.
The government says it is mobilising equipment from public institutions, the private sector and development partners to begin the large-scale evacuation of the waste and reclaim the affected areas.
The Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, said his ministry had begun preparations for the exercise, with the government having access to more than 100 trucks, as well as excavators, dozers and loaders.
He said the ministry would first mobilise its own equipment before appealing to contractors to make their machinery available, particularly at weekends when some equipment may not be actively deployed at construction sites.
“We have at least not less than 100 trucks. We have not less than 16 excavators and dozers, and then loaders, and etc. So we will mobilize ours first. Then we would invite all the contractors to assist us with equipment during the weekends when they are not at site.”
According to Mr Ayariga, the government does not necessarily intend to pay contractors to undertake the exercise, but rather wants them to contribute their equipment and operational capacity towards evacuating specified quantities of waste.
He explained that contractors could be assigned specific volumes of waste to remove based on their capacity.
Mr Ayariga said the same approach would be extended to major mining and industrial companies as part of their corporate social responsibility.
The Minister said the immediate priority was to establish the exact volume of waste accumulated at the site before determining the number of trucks, equipment and working days required to complete the exercise.
He disclosed that Zoomlion had offered technical assistance, with its technicians already using drones to measure the volume of waste.
“They are flying drones to pick the volumes. So, you know that technology has gotten to a point where you can fly drones, and then the drones can capture the area, and then be able to calculate and give you the volume of waste that has piled up.”
He said the data would enable the government to scientifically plan the evacuation and determine how much waste each contractor or participating company could commit to removing.
Mr Ayariga said the government’s objective was to demonstrate that Ghana had the capacity to confront the country’s sanitation challenges at their root.
“The most important thing is that, at the end of the day, we as a people, we as Ghanaians, should show that we have the capacity to surmount what appears to be insurmountable.”
He said clearing the Korle Lagoon enclave would also serve as an example to citizens to take responsibility for waste management around their homes, shops and workplaces.
“If we are as a state, able to clear mountains of heaps like this, I don’t think any citizen can give us an explanation why he or she is not clearing the waste in front of their homes and their shops and their offices and their properties.”
The Minister said an inter-ministerial effort involving the Local Government, Finance, Environment, Defence, and Roads and Highways sectors was being coordinated to implement the exercise.
The waste is expected to be relocated to the Adepa Waste Management Centre at Nsawam in the Eastern Region as the government works towards clearing the Korle Lagoon enclave and restoring the area for productive use.
