The Environmental Health and Sanitation Unit of the Municipal Assembly has said it was able to collect and dispose off over 70 per cent of household wastes generated in the Awutu-Senya-East Municipality.
Data from the sanitation unit showed that the municipality generated about 118.26 tonnes of waste daily and 70 per cent out of the total figure was collected in collaboration with private waste management companies.
Mr Godson Lodo, the Municipal Environmental Officer, said waste collection in the area had improved, although there was more work to be done as some residents still complained about the heaps of waste mostly left unattended to by the Assembly.
Mr Lodo said the Assembly lacked the capacity to manage the huge waste generated due to limited logistics and a landfill site for final disposal, therefore it had engaged the assistance of some private companies.
He said their involvement had helped improve sanitation, particularly waste management collection in the municipality.
Out of the 13 electoral areas in the municipality, 10 had waste management companies actively working there, in addition to hired sweepers who constantly sweep the markets daily, he said.
“We are doing our best and if you come to the Kasoa new market for instance, we have our own labourers sweeping after every market day, and they supervise the waste while Zoomlion oversees to the Central Business District (CBD).”
“We have officers at the zonal council level and have also intensified public awareness and education trying to get the public to register with waste management companies for a waste bin to help improve sanitation,” he added.
Mr Lodo said a major challenge facing the Assembly was the non-availability of a landfill site, compelling it to depend on the one at Ojobi in the Gomoa East District, which was far.
However, the Assembly was in the process of acquiring a 28-acre land at Ojobi to begin operating a landfill site, he said.
GNA
AT/CAA/CA
09 April 2024
Pics attached
