Three landfill sites shut over non-payment of services

Waste Landfills Company has shut down the Nsumia, Kpone and Tamale landfill sites over non-payment of services.

The Nsumia landfill site is in Nsawam in the Eastern Region, the Kpone landfill site is in the Greater Accra Region while the Tamale landfill site, the only engineered landfill site in the Northern Region, is located near Gbalai and Kulaa in the newly created Sagnarigu District.

Irregular payments

In a letter signed by the General Manager of Waste Landfills, Mr Peter Kwei Dagadu, the company said the decision to shut down the landfill sites was prompted by the irregular payments of its services by the government since the beginning of 2017.

“The company has relied on regular payments from the government to maintain good service levels across various sites, but since the beginning of 2017, these payments have not been regular,” it stated.

Bank loans

The letter dated April 22, 2020 and addressed to the Environmental Service Providers Association said: “We have resorted to bank loans to finance our operations in anticipation of receiving payments from the government through the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources.

“The company, however, in recent times is experiencing some difficulties occasioned by withdrawal of the credit line by our suppliers and bankers due to our failure to honour huge financial obligations to them.”

Legal action

Besides, the company indicated that it had over the past decade partnered the MMDAs to provide landfill management services across the country, including Kpone, Nsumia and currently the Tamale landfills.

It stated that the company’s intervention in safe disposal of solid waste and all-weather access to landfill sites had ensured uninterrupted waste collection activities across the country.

However, it said the company was currently overstretched by the unsustainable irregular payments from the government and borrowings from the banks.

“We are currently overstretched by this unsustainable situation resulting in salary arrears of staff for three months, huge outstanding fuel and lubricant bills, as well as pending statutory payments.

“We are also currently facing a legal action by some suppliers for our failure to pay overdue credit line,” it said.

Intervention

“Due to the reasons above, we regrettably do not have any option but to close the various sites from Monday, April 27, 2020, as we have exhausted all avenues for support.

“In as much as we wish not to disrupt waste management activities, we simply do not have the resources to continue providing landfill management services sustainably,” the letter said.

Tamale assembly reacts

When contacted, the acting Coordinating Director of the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TaMA), Mr Abdul Baba Rahman Ahmed, confirmed that the assembly had received a letter from the company with respect to the decision to shut down the Tamale landfill site.

However, he said the assembly was yet to engage the company on the issue.