Government must protect reclaimed Agbogbloshie land

On her first day in office as the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Linda Obenewaa Akweley Ocloo stated that the government had started the process for a decision on how to deal with encroachment on the 80-acre land that was reclaimed at the scrapyard and onion market at Agbogbloshie.

The minister said a report on the illegal takeover of the land had been presented to the Office of the President for the necessary action to be taken in the national interest.

She further indicated that a stakeholders’ meeting had been held between the President, John Dramani Mahama, and the leadership of Agbogbloshie to discuss the issue while wider consultations were also ongoing with other stakeholders on the way forward.

Though a localised issue, discussions on the reclaimed Agbogbloshie scrapyard have national and international dimensions, given that the site had hosted the biggest electronic waste (e-waste) business in the country.

Again, before the July 1, 2021 demolition by the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council (GARCC), the Agbogbloshie Scrapyard, which hosted about 10,000 scrap dealers, had gained notoriety as the world’s dirtiest e-waste site.

The hazardous conditions at the scrapyard, especially the open burning of e-waste for ferrous metals and other useful materials, the involvement of children in the business and the exposure of members of the public to the incessant air pollution were issues of grave concern for Ghanaians and the international community.

So when the GARCC evicted the scrap metal dealers as part of the “Let’s Make Accra Work” initiative spearheaded by the former Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, members of the public heaved a sigh of relief.

The excitement of Ghanaians was anchored on the fact that the environmental risks caused by the open burning of e-waste, including the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere and the related health implications, will be reduced.

The demolition of the scrapyard was also seen as a positive move because 15 acres of the reclaimed land were later earmarked for the construction of the Ablekuma Central Municipal Hospital under the Agenda 111 Hospitals project by the previous government.

It is, therefore, disheartening that four years after the demolition of the scrapyard and salvaging over 80 acres, some of the operators in the e-waste business have staged a comeback with impunity.

As captured on the front page of the January 24, 2025, edition of the Daily Graphic, “scores of scrap dealers had broken through the protective wall and started  constructing wooden structures on the land with impunity.”

The Daily Graphic finds it worrying that the reclaimed Agbogbloshie land, which is now a state asset, is being taken over by individuals. What is even more worrying is that the impunity is being perpetrated under the guise of partisan politics.

The former Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, had explained that the land was left bare after the reclamation because a soil test on the land revealed high toxicity, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was put in charge of assessing and regenerating the soil to ensure the site became habitable.

Given that a portion of the land had been earmarked for the construction of a district hospital to cater for the health needs of citizens, the Daily Graphic calls for the needed steps to be taken to protect the land from encroachment.

There is also the need for the EPA to expedite action on the soil toxicity test so that the land can be put to use to forestall further encroachment.

As the government engages stakeholders on the best way forward for the usage of the reclaimed Agbogbloshie land, the Daily Graphic is of the view that any decision that will be taken must be in the ultimate interest of public health and the integrity of the environment.

Clearly, the choice to safeguard the land from encroachment by scrap metal dealers far outweighs any livelihood argument that some people will advance.

The Daily Graphic believes that any livelihood venture that puts people in harm’s way is not worth pursuing.