Sekondi: Mr Frederick F. Faidoo, the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), has cited logistical and financial challenges as major problems confronting the effective management of waste within the metropolis.
According to Ghana News Agency, the metropolis generated an average of 168.9 tonnes of solid waste daily, putting pressure on the insufficient logistics like vehicles and skip containers, resulting in spill overs at certain dumping sites. Mr Faidoo, speaking to journalists in Sekondi, noted, "When I assumed office, the waste management situation in the Assembly was nothing to write home about. The Assembly did not even have a single truck to lift waste from the metropolis, and what they were doing was to rely on some partners and also rent some equipment for waste management."
He mentioned that the Assembly had now managed to acquire two trucks for lifting skip containers within the metropolis, and tricycles have been purchased to ease waste collection. On the financial front, the MCE highlighted that the statutory allocation of 10 per cent of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) for sanitation was inadequate. He explained that part of this fund is used for collecting waste across the metropolis and maintaining an engineered landfill site at Sofokrom.
Mr Faidoo elaborated, "The 10 per cent of the DACF has been allocated for sanitation for all districts, but what makes our situation different is that in addition to waste collection, we also have an engineered landfill site that we manage at Sofokrom also from the same money."
He emphasized that managing a landfill facility required substantial resources, adding, "Managing the landfill site is a very expensive venture, and the amount allocated for sanitation will not even be enough to manage the landfill site." The MCE urged the Administrators of the DACF to consider their situation and make adjustments to their allocation for sanitation to help them effectively manage waste in the metropolis.
To improve waste management in the area, the Assembly plans to regularize the operations of tricycle waste collectors, establish a special environmental sanitation taskforce, and install CCTV cameras at strategic points to monitor littering and improper waste disposal practices within the metropolis.
Mr Faidoo also encouraged residents to adopt waste segregation at the household level to help reduce pressure on the landfill site and create economic opportunities through recycling. He stressed, "Waste management is a collective responsibility, and should start from us the individuals, because in other jurisdictions, what has helped them most is source segregation, so we must also adopt this practice in our households."