Kpone landfill site in flames

The Kpone landfill is being consumed by an inferno which smoke is engulfing nearby communities and settlements.

The entire Kpone Kokompe, Sethi Reality Estate, Kpone Affordable Housing, P.S. Global and other parts of Tema Community 26 are covered in white thick smoke from the burning landfill site.

The area houses fuel stations, industries including the Senteo Ceramic Company, garages, farms as well as tanker yards.

Drivers had a hectic time driving through the thick smoke on the road that link Kpone to the Tema-Aflao highway as they tried avoiding head-on collusions.

The Kpone landfill site which was constructed to replace an old one, was supposed to have four cells with toxic fluid system biogas and manure processing system but had been turned into a normal dumping ground with mountainous heaps of garbage.

The site, which was opened in 2012 to handle over 1,200 metric tonnes of waste daily from Tema and other parts of the Greater Accra Region, had been overstretched in both capacity and lifespan.

Residents of the Kpone-Katamanso Municipality had complained about the poignant odour emanating the site as its leachate often leaked into nearby communities.

Mr Derick Tata Anku, Tema Metropolitan Waste Management Officer, told the Ghana News Agency that he was informed by the supervisor on site about the fire Friday morning.

Mr Anku added that they immediately mobilized and went to scene with fire officers but realized that the situation was becoming worse due to the combustible materials and possible gasses from the garbage.

He said the cause of the fire was not known adding that “it is so serious, we are still trying to put off the fire”

He described the situation as unfortunate and a health hazard but appealed to residents to bear with them while they did their best to bring the situation under control.

Mr Frank Asante, Public Relations Officer of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), which manages the landfill site, said they suspected a garbage truck might have dumped fire coals unknowingly at the site which might have sparked the fire.

Mr Asante, however, gave the assurance that they were working assiduously to control it while fire tenders had been positioned at vantage places in the area to avoid a disaster in the vicinity.

According to him, they were in talks with the Motor, Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) to direct the flow of traffic to prevent accidents as visibility had reduced drastically due to the hovering thick smoke.

He appealed to businesses in the area to observe close safety measures on their premises while urging drivers using the stretch from the Kpone-barrier Calypsso area towards Kpone to drive cautiously.