Accra generates 3,000 metric tonnes of waste in a day

Director of Waste Management at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Anthony Mensah, speaking on Eezy FM’s Morning Edition in Accra disclosed that the city of Accra generates 3,000 metric tonnes of waste daily.

He said: “in terms of quantities of waste generated, it is huge; AMA’s jurisdiction generates waste in excess of 3,000 metric tonnes a day.”

According to him, waste generated comprised those from homes and the streets.

He noted that the Assembly was doing the best it could under difficult circumstances to discharge its duties.

Bemoaning the bad culture of littering, he cited it as one of the main challenges in curbing sanitation issues in the city, stressing that “people litter with serious impunity.”

“The intense trading activities on the city streets lead to congestion and consequently waste generation that create filth.

The insanitary conditions in the city leave a lot to be desired. Pedestrians would have to wrestle through hawkers and traders who have taken over pavements in the city to get to their destination,” he lamented.

“The Accra Metropolitan Assembly has a system in place for waste management, we have a door-to-door collection service for households and communal collection system offering a central point for refuse collection in certain communities,” he explained.

In response to how the Assembly intends to deal with the issue of sanitation in the city, he pointed out that “waste management is a continuum; it is an activity that continues unabated and therefore the assembly will continue to tackle it.”