Sanitation Ministry deploys 5,100 litter bins to control public littering

The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources has deployed 5,100 Litter bins to control public littering in selected Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in Ashanti, Central, Greater Accra, Northern, Oti, Volta and Western Regions as part of its a Street Litter Bin programme.

Addressing the press at a briefing organised by the Information Ministry, the sector Minister Cecilia Abena Dapaah explained that an additional 3,000 bins are currently being deployed out of which 600 have been donated to the Ministry of Defence for distribution to the Armed Forces.

“In addition, 400 of the bins have also been delivered to the Ministry of the Interior for distribution to the other Security Services. It is therefore expected of the general public to cooperate by depositing only litter generated while on the street, into these bins and not to fill them with household waste.”

The Minister also disclosed at the briefing that the Ministry has under the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development Project (GARID) secured a parcel of land to construct an Engineered Sanitary Landfill and a Materials Recovery Facility in the Ga West Municipality.

According to her, 2 Transfer Stations will be constructed at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission and the Adentan Municipality respectively.

“Two major dumpsites at Abokobi and Agbogbloshie (Old Fadama) will be capped. Expression of Interest (EOI) for Consultancy Services for Detailed Engineering Design (DED) and construction supervision for the Landfill and Capping components have been received and are being evaluated.”

An approval she added has been given to allow for the decommissioning and re-engineer the Kpone and Oti Landfill sites.

“I am happy to announce that, the Contractor has mobilised to the two sites and works are progressing steadily. The Ministry has also procured Messrs. EAP Consult Limited, a local Engineering firm as Consultants to supervise the project to ensure quality control”.

The Minister said the Greater Accra Sustainable Sanitation and Livelihood Improvement Project (GASSLIP) has also procured thirty (30) Communal Waste Containers (Skips) and distributed to all the MMAs within the GAMA. She said 24 motor powered small vehicles have been procured to further improve solid waste collection within GAMA.