The Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) Project has organized a 2-day capacity building workshop on sustainable livelihoods and collective organization for the Informal Waste Sector (IWS) workers in Accra.
Speaking at the opening session of the workshop, the Coordinator of the GARID Project, Dr. Kwadwo Ohene Sarfoh, underscored the importance of the Informal Waste Sector (IWS) workers to the improvement of Solid Waste Management (SWM) in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA).
Dr. Sarfoh disclosed that the IWS actors are known to save the municipalities of the GAMA close to Twenty-five Million Dollars (US$25, 000,000) annually in waste collection and recovery. He assured the IWS actors of the GARID Project’s readiness to collaborate with them to help improve Solid Waste Management situations in the GAMA. He intimated that, “Poor Solid Waste Management and indiscriminate dumping of garbage into drains is one of the major causes of the perennial flooding in the city. The GARID project is ready to collaborate with you to help improve this unfortunate situation in our national capital city.”
The lead facilitator for the workshop, Dr. Oduro Appiah, took participants through the contributions of the IWS to Municipal Solid Waste Management. He entreated participants to work closely with the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources and the GARID Project to help improve Solid Waste Management in the Greater Accra Region.
Participants at the workshop analyzed the gaps within the Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) service delivery and value chain system and proposed solutions on how to fill the gaps. Notable among the proposed solutions was the need for government to construct additional landfill sites and waste transfer stations to reduce the travelling time from the point of collection to the final disposal sites.
The IWS actors also appealed to government to create awareness among households on waste segregation and provide monetary support to the Informal Waste workers to purchase the requisite solid waste collection equipment and recycling machines to facilitates their works.
The President of Kpone Landfill Waste Pickers Association, Mr. Johson Doe, commended government for recognizing the contributions of the Informal Waste Sector Actors. He said, “We, the Informal Waste Workers, are happy about the recognition given to us by the GARID Project. We are ready to work with government and the GARID project to improve Solid Waste Management in the capital city.”
The Component Two of the GARID Project is being implemented by the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR). This component seeks to improve Solid Waste Management capacity in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area and reduce the amount of solid waste flowing into the primary Odaw channel and the ocean.