President John Dramani Mahama has directed the immediate opening and operationalise six transfer stations that were built more than nine years ago to support the disposal of refuse collected during the national clean-up exercise and prevent the waste from returning to drains during rainfall.
The directive follows an appeal from the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Ahmed Ibrahim, for designated dumping points to be made available for waste removed from drainage channels during the clean-up exercise.
Speaking on Saturday, July 11, during the second day of the National General Cleaning exercise, President Mahama said the move was necessary to address a recurring challenge where waste collected from drains is left by roadsides and later washed back into the drainage systems.
He explained that previous clean-up exercises had often failed to achieve lasting results because the waste removed from gutters was not properly evacuated after the exercise.
“Yesterday, one of the directives I gave was that in the past we do these clean-ups, we take all the garbage out of the gutters, but we don’t follow up and come and collect the garbage that is by the roadside. And so when the rain falls, it just washes all the dirt back in,” he said.
President Mahama said the focus on the second day of the exercise was to ensure that waste gathered from drains and communities was loaded onto trucks and transported to approved disposal sites.
He added that the volume of waste generated from the clean-up was too much to be cleared within a single day, requiring continued efforts by state agencies beyond the exercise.
“The army and the other agencies will continue until we are able to clear all the garbage that was taken out of the drains,” he stated.
He explained that waste collectors, including private operators, would no longer need to travel long distances to disposal sites such as Amasaman and could instead use the nearest transfer stations before the waste is transported to final disposal facilities.
“We’ve had six transfer stations that were built more than nine years ago. Unfortunately, they were not put into operation. So, we have asked the contractor to open the transfer stations that is the Zoomlion so that they can take the garbage to the transfer stations,” he said
He commended Ghanaians for their commitment to restoring affected communities after the floods, adding that the collective effort would help Accra recover and emerge stronger.
