Tema residents protest against increase in refuse fees

Residents of Tema Community Five have declared that they would not pay a hundred per cent increase in house to house refuse collection fees, beginning from October as announced by Asibod Company Limited, the contractor in charge of the exercise.

The residents, led by the assembly member for the area informed the Waste Management Unit of the Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA) about their decision, adding that they would resist any arbitrary increase in refuse collection fees.

According to the residents, the refuse contractor in a letter to them stated that it has detected that despite the increase in refuse fees to 12,000 cedis per month for each household in Community Five by the TMA in July 2000, they were still erroneously being charged six thousand cedis.

The letter copied to the Head of Waste Management, TMA and the assemblyman, further stated that: "The anomaly has been rectified and that any household benefiting from the house to house refuse collection will be charged 12,000 cedis with effect from October 1."

Mr Edward Mbah, of the TMA Waste Management, said the assemblyman had complained about the contents of the letter and said the contractor has been invited for a discussion on the matter and ordered that the increase in the fees should not be implemented.