– chief, residents commend government over activity
The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources has evacuated an over 100 year-old dumpsite in Duayaw Nkwanta, Tano-North Municipality of Ahofo Region, as nationwide emergency dumpsites evacuation continues unabrupted.
A 78 year-old resident of the community, Cynthia Forkuoh, was overwhelmed with joy that the finally the lifetime burdened refuse dump close to her house has been evacuated, narrating that the dumpsite existed before she was born likewise her parents.
Omanhene of Duayaw Nkwanta Traditional Area, Nana Boakye Tromo, commended the government of Nana Addo for initiating such a social initiative to bring relief to himself and his people.
“This dumpsite is over hundred years old because I came to meet it as a child. Over the years, efforts has been made to clear portions of it but it got overwhelming beyound our capacity to handle. It has turned into a bleeding ground for mosquitoes and other insects causing frequent sicknesses in the community,” Nana said.
The Municipal Chief Executive, Tano-North Municipal Assembly, Ernest Kwarteng, speaking to the media, explained that the municipality do not have the capacity to embark evacuate such a huge dumpsite, noting that it will take over two years of the assembly’s common fund to undertake such a project.
“Within this municipality, we have some communities with similar dumpsites in Bomaa, Yamfo and Koforidua and I know after this one those ones too will be tackled but my issue is with Zoomlion so I will plead with them that after this work, they should let us have enough containers for regular clearance,” he said.
Municipal Environmental Health and Sanitation Officer, Tano-North Municipal Assembly, Esther Tegah, who is in charge of sanitation and environmental issues in the locality indicated that her outfit is go to embark on strict monitoring and sensitisation exercise after the evacuation to ensure that the dumpsites do not return to their previous states or even worse off.
“We are in talks with Zoomlion to provide more containers, so we are going to monitor and ensure they clear it just when it gets full as well as clear any spillage that will happen to ensure the place is always clean and friendly to the environment,” she said.
The week long nationwide emergency dumpsites evacuation exercise by the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources in collaboration with Zoomlion Ghana Limited, commenced on Monday 19th October 2020. The exercise is part of government’s initiative to mark Ghana one of the cleanest countries in Africa.
