There is no end in sight yet for the waste management problems in Accra and its environs, the Accra Mayor Alfred Vanderpuije suggests.
Accra is filthy while garbage containers line its streets because waste collectors have nowhere to send the rubbish to.
At a press conference today, Mr. Alfred Vanderpuije indicated that it will take about a year to resolve the sanitation problem.
Mr. Vanderpuije expressed optimism an engineered land fill site at Dankyira will be ready for use by January 2015 to end Accra’s notorious waste management problems.
Until the new site comes into operation, the Assembly will also distribute bins to all residents in Accra and also augment the fleet of waste management trucks, he promised.
He also underscored that the Assembly’s bye-laws on sanitation would be strictly enforced. Residents who indiscriminately dispose off their refuse would be prosecuted, he warned.
On how to deal with the immediate crisis on hand brought on by the closure of the Accra Compost and Recycling plant, leaving only the Kpone landfill site in operation, Mr. Vanderpuije said agreement has been reached with the operators of Kpone to increase their working hours so that waste collectors could avoid the traffic situation during the day.
The AMA Public Relations Officer, Numo Blafo said the Assembly has released a cheque of GHc600,000 to waste collectors to offset part of its debt.
Additional GHc600, 000 would be paid in the next two months.
Meanwhile, Communications Manager for Zoomlion Robert Coleman says they will now be able to operate at full capacity.
He described the move by the AMA as a welcoming development.
