ACHIMOTA Solid Waste Transfer Station has been inaugurated in Accra. The new site has the capacity to hold at least, 2,000 tonnes of waste daily.
It is operated by Zoompak, a subsidiary of Zoomlion Ghana Limited. The Achimota Transfer Station is the third of its kind to be constructed in the country.
The other transfer station by Zoompak is located at Teshie, while the third station, constructed by Waste Landfills Limited, is situated at Kokomlemle, all in Accra.
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Inauguration
Inaugurating the facility last Thursday, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah, promised to shut down all unauthorised dump sites in the city.
He also warned that his outfit would not spare any person or group caught dumping waste at unapproved sites.
“Now that we have the Achimota transfer station to complement the Teshie transfer station, the issue of unauthorised waste dumping should cease,” Mr Sowah stated.
Situation
Lack of dump sites in Accra is a major challenge confronting waste management companies in the metropolis.
Apart from the Kpone Engineering Landfill near Tema and the Nsumia at Nsawam in the Eastern Region, there are no other landfill sites in Accra.
The situation has made it difficult for waste management companies to operate efficiently, considering the long distances they have to travel daily to dump waste.
It takes a distance of 90km turn-around from Accra to the Kpone Engineering Landfill and a 75-km turn-around to the Nsumia site.
The transfer station is, therefore, expected to reduce the overall cost of operations by waste management contractors in the Greater Accra Region in terms of fuel and maintenance cost, as well as their turnaround time.
Measures
Mr Sowah said the AMA had partnered its stakeholders, including the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resource and the Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA), to address the waste management challenges in Accra.
He explained that the partnership was part of
measures by the assembly to help achieve the government’s agenda of
making Accra the cleanest city in the continent.
“We are going to roll out more interventions to address the sanitation situation in Accra in the coming weeks,” Mr Sowah said.
He, therefore, called on the public to support the assembly in its efforts at improving the sanitation situation in Accra.
ignificance
The President of Evironmental Service Providers Association (ESPA), Mr Joseph Siaw Agyapong, said “with the commissioning of the Achimota Transfer Station, we now have the full complement of waste management infrastructure for the city of Accra”.
According to Mr Agyapong, who is also the executive chairman of the Jospong Group of companies, the new transfer station would ensure speedy collection and haulage of waste from the city.
“We want to pledge our support to the management of Zoompak in making full use of this facility. I urge all ESPA members to conform to the standards in discharging their services,” he added.
Standardisation
The Managing Director of Zoompak, Mr Yuksel Unal, said the facility has been certified by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) in occupational health and safety management system.
He said measures had been put in place to ensure the smooth operation of the facility, adding that the goal of the company was to help in the proper management of waste in Accra.
Source: Graphic online
