60-year-old dumpsites evacuated

Some dumpsites in the Ahafo region have been evacuated.

Located in Droboso, Asuano and Kwase, the dumpsites were evacuated through the efforts of the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources in collaboration with the municipal assembly.

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Wenchi in the Ahafo Region, Dr Patrick Kwakye Afriyie, said the evacuation of the three dumpsites forms part of the government’s policy to ensure that dumpsites sited close to residential communities were evacuated to prevent any disaster.

Speaking to journalists during the evacuation of the dumpsites in the Droboso community, he said a similar dumpsite at the Wenchi market was also evacuated by the then-Kufuor government, which has now been converted into a maize market.

"The Wenchi maize market used to be a dumpsite, which was evacuated by the then-President John Kufuor government and converted into a maize market,” he said.

"The Wenchi municipality has a temporary landfill site, which is being used to bury waste and plans are ongoing to ensure an engineered landfill site to serve the municipality,” he added.

Meanwhile, an over 60-year-old rubbish dumpsite in the Droboso District of Wenchi municipality has been evacuated to bring relief to the residents in the community.

The townsfolk disclosed that the dumpsite had always been a breeding ground for mosquitoes and flies which cause malaria and cholera.

The residents also noted that they had consistently been appealing to the government to evacuate the dumpsite and were happy that their plea has been heard.

A sanitation guard at the Drobo community, Osei Kofi, who could not hide his excitement, indicated that they will no longer tolerate dumping of refuse at the site after the evacuation exercise.

He gave the assurance that they were ready to pay a token fee so they could dump their refuse in the receptacles that will be provided to the community so as to avert a resurgence of the dumpsite.