AMA to fully implement Polluter Pay system in refuse collection
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) will this year ensure a 100 per cent collection of refuse in the Accra Metropolis through the Polluter Pay (PP) collection system.
Under the PP, residents will be made to pay for the collection of the waste they generate, a situation which puts them in charge of their own waste.
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The Coordinating Director of the AMA, Mr Sam Ayeh Datey, who made this known in an interview with the Daily Graphic during the National Sanitation Day exercise in Accra last Saturday, said most households were, however, still not registered under the National Waste Bin Distribution Programme (NAWaBin) which would ensure the effective collection of refuse.
Therefore, he said, there would also be a drive for a 100 per cent registration of residents of the city on the scheme to make the PP system effective.
Apathetic attitude
Participation in the exercise was low as, apart from officials of the AMA, very few residents joined in the effort to rid the city of filth.
The participants swept the streets around the 37 Military Hospital, the Liberation Road and the entire stretch of the Ring Road.
Traders in the Central Business District, at the time of the exercise, were busy displaying and selling their wares in spite of the fact that the gutters in the area were choked and were emitting a foul stench.
The situation was not different at the Tema Station as scores of commuters trooped to the station to board vehicles to their various destinations, while others arrived to purchase items.
In some communities such as Maamobi, Nima, New Town, and Pig Farm, residents were busy welcoming the New Year with parties and firecrackers and showed no interest in the exercise.
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When asked why the residents were showing such indifference to the clean up exercise, a resident of Maamobi, Mr Jibril Osman, said he was oblivious of the fact that the day had been set aside to clean the environment
Another resident, Hajia Humu Labaran, said there appeared to be no seriousness attached to the exercise even on the part of the government and added that as a result, she had forgotten that January 2 , 2016 was national sanitation day.
Prosecution
Mr Dartey condemned the apathetic attitude of residents towards the exercise describing it as unpatriotic.
“They think that the AMA is solely responsible for cleaning the city but as for sanitation, it’s a two way thing. The residents would have to do their bit and the city administration would also do its part. There must be that collaboration so we can have an effective clean up exercise”, he said.
Mr Dartey said the assembly would not hesitate to prosecute those who flouted the sanitation laws by defecating along the beaches and winning sand from the beach.
“We have our taskforce in place and we will not hesitate to prosecute anyone who goes against the sanitation byelaws”, he stressed.
Mr Dartey urged the media to help intensify the campaign on the national exercise.