The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources has distributed seventeen (17) refuse compactor trucks and other solid waste management equipment to the Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies under the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) Project.
The move according to the ministry forms part of efforts by the government to improve solid waste management capacity in Municipalities along the Odaw River basin.
Speaking at the event, the sector minister Cecilia Abena Dapaah said poor solid waste management is one of the major causes of flooding in Ghana. She urged the beneficiary Assemblies to use the equipment for their solid waste management, street and drain cleansing activities in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area. “I urge you all to put this equipment to good use and help reduce the amount of solid waste that ends up into the drains in the city and in the ocean”, the minister noted.
Besides the refuse compactor trucks, each of the seventeen (17) beneficiary Assemblies received motorized sprayers, motor bicycles, wheelbarrows, safety boots, wellington boots, helmets, reflector jackets, goggles, hand gloves, shovels, rakes, and working gears.
The Dean of the Greater Accra MMDCEs, Hon. George Cyril Bray, thanked the Ministry and the GARID Project for their supports. He said the equipment will play an important role in the ongoing solid waste management efforts of the beneficiary Assemblies. “On behalf of all the 17 beneficiary Assemblies, I wish to thank your Ministry and the GARID Project for this timely and important intervention. These set of equipment will play a crucial role in helping achieve our collective goal of making Accra one of the cleanest cities in Africa.”
Under the Component Two (2) of the GARID project, the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources is implementing interventions that seeks to improve solid waste management capacity in Accra and reduce the the amount of solid waste flowing into the primary Odaw channel and the ocean.
Other solid waste management interventions being implemented by the Project include capping of Abloragyei dumpsite in Ga East Municipality, construction of waste transfer station at Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, and the construction of an engineered landfill and recovery facility at Ayidan- Sakla in the Ga South Municipality.
The Project beneficiary Assemblies include Korle Klotey, Adentan, La Nkwatanang Madina, Ga East, La Dadekotopon, Okaikoi North, Ablekuma Central, GA Central, GA North, GA West, Ayawaso East, Ayawaso West, Ayawaso Central, Ayawaso North, and the Ablekuma West municipal assemblies.