Agyepong proposes bins for all households to improve sanitation

The Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies, Mr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, has proposed a “One household, one dustbin” intervention as a major way to deal with the growing sanitation menace in the country.

According to him, the move will go a long way to assist households to join the campaign to improve the country's sanitation.

Speaking at a sanitation forum, organised by Imani Africa in Accra last Tuesday, Mr Agyepong bemoaned the lack of waste disposal bins not only in homes but also in public places and said the solution to Ghana’s waste challenge lay in ensuring that every household had a waste bin to store waste and the public had unlimited access to waste bins.

He said improper waste disposal continued to hinder the progress of work done by waste contractors as bins were not available at public places to inculcate in people the habit of disposal of waste into bins.

“After eating or unwrapping items even in offices, public transport or in public places people have no other choice apart from throwing away the waste anywhere they deem fit and, therefore, litter since they are unable to hold on to the waste until they get to their destination,” he said.

“When the waste is not stored in a bin for collection by the waste contractor, then we can rest assured that it will end up at unauthorised places.

There is, therefore, the urgent need to ensure that households have waste bins and sanitation regulations are enforced to change attitudes for effective waste management,” Mr Agyepong reiterated.

Zoomlion intervention

He added that Zoomlion’s intervention by clearing the Odaw drain, after the June 3, 2015 disaster, had averted possible flood situations since 2016.

"Zoomlion is still committed to clearing the drain to avert flooding and save lives and properties, which has been a phenomenon anytime there is a heavy downpour of rains”, he stated.

Mr Agyepong listed the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant (ACARP), waste transfer stations, plastic recycling, medical waste treatment and the liquid waste treatment plants as other interventions that had helped solve Ghana’s problem of indiscriminate faecal waste disposal.

He said it was unfortunate that despite the efforts put in place by the company, the private sector’s contributions had not been rewarded.

Elsewhere in developed countries, Mr Agyepong said, projects were undertaken by the government but in Ghana the private sector, "does all of the funding single-handedly."

"This is where we need the government to assist us to expand some of the waste projects in the country,'" he said.

Sanitation Minister

In his presentation,the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, said as part of his outfit’s interventions to deal with waste management, it would soon deploy sanitation brigades to enforce sanitation laws and help shape attitudes towards good sanitation.

He commended Zoomlion for its introduction of waste trucks which had helped in managing waste.

He also urged the company not to allow the debt owed them stop them from continually providing effective services to help solve Ghana’s waste challenge.

AMA ready

For his part, the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly(AMA), Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah, said more efforts were required to address the sanitation challenges.

He said the AMA would launch the Accra Beautification Project in the next few months as part of efforts to improve sanitation in Accra.