STMA to rent its waste management container dumping sites

Mr Anthony K. K. Sam, the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of the Sekondi -Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA), has called for the assembly's waste management container dumping sites to be franchised to generate more funds for the Assembly.

Addressing assembly members at the second ordinary meeting of the fourth session in Sekondi, he said, the assembly spent huge sums of money to convey refuse from the container sites, yet not much has been collected for the office even though individuals are required to pay when they dumped refuse.

He said those who manned the dumping sites hardly rendered meaningful accounts to the assembly, hence the need to franchise the dumping sites.

Mr Sam said due to the poor performance of “Delovely Waste Management Company”, it was replaced with “Asadu Royal Waste Management Company” and expressed the hope that assembly would see some improvement in waste management service delivery in the Essikado-Ketan sub-metropolitan area.

He called for the contract of defaulting franchised toilet facilities to be terminated and re-awarded to new operators since they have failed to settle their debts.

“We gave the operators one whole year to settle their debts but it seems all efforts to have them pay has proved futile”, he said.

On curbing the menace of flooding in the metropolis, Mr Sam said, the assembly has undertaken dredging and desilting of drains in areas such as Effia-Nkwanta Hospital to the Nkotompo Railway Crossing, Nketsiakrom, Essaman to Ngyamuabakam, Takoradi Market Circle, Chapel Hill school and new Takoradi among others.

He said though the effort was very vital, it has drained the coffers of the assembly.

The MCE commended the sanitation team for coming 3rd in the sanitation challenge competition held on 24th July, 2019 in Accra at the Grand Dignified City Awards Ceremony, where it also won a cash prize of one hundred and twenty -five thousand pounds sterling.

Mr John Buckman, the Presiding Member, expressed concern about indiscipline on the roads in the Metropolis and lauded the efforts of the Urban Roads Department and the Metro Guards for their continuous efforts to help restore sanity on the roads.

Mr Buckman said bye-laws would be enforced and culprits prosecuted accordingly, adding that the one house, one dustbin and one household one toilet policy would be enforced.

Mrs Elizabeth Akuako, the Metro Director of Education, said the Improved Education Curriculum dubbed, "Standard Based Curriculum"(SBC) was a shift from the objective-based curriculum.

She said the new curriculum was to train and nurture pupils for life and not just exams.

“It is geared towards training a generation of people who understand what it means to be an educated person, whiles forming character, positive attitudes, developing integrity and knowing how to work as a team”, she said.

Mrs Akuako said training sessions would be organized for teachers across the nation and that beginning on 6th August, the training would kick start for KG to Primary Six teachers in the Metropolis.

She said the training would start with public schools and later extended to private schools and urged teachers to attend the training sessions adding that failure to attend would result in unspecified consequences.