Zoomlion and others key at National Policy Summit

Waste management solutions provider, Zoomlion Ghana limited, joined government and other policy makers for a National Policy Summit at the University of Cape Coast.

The summit included several subsidiaries of the company exhibiting their services and products.

The summit which was on the theme “Meeting the sustainable development goals: emphasis on fisheries and sanitation” brought together policy makers, government agencies, ministers, local authorities and academia among others within the sanitation and fisheries sectors to deliberate on how to attain the Sustainable Development Goals 6 and 14 respectively.

The Managing Director of Zoomlion Ghana limited, Mrs Florence Larbi took the audience through her presentation on Zoomlion’s integrated waste management approach during a panel discussion espoused the huge development intervention by the private sector in establishing waste collection and treatment facilities within the waste management value chain.

Citing the company’s increased fleet of vehicles of various forms for waste collection, ultra-modern waste transfer stations, waste composting facilities, plastics recycling plants, faecal treatment plants, the waste material recovery park in Accra among others, Mrs Larbi was optimistic that the gains achieved when effectively utilized will make Ghana the cleanest nation in the sub-region.

She said the way forward towards achieving the sustainable development goal on sanitation aside toilet facilities for every home is for every single household to acquire a waste bin for waste storage.

Highlighting the impact of owning a waste bin dubbed “the power of the bin”, Mrs Larbi indicated that the waste bin as a means of storing waste will help positively shape the attitudes of Ghanaians, prevent communicable diseases, create employment for the youth, generate revenue for local assemblies, promote tourism and enhance a clean environment among others.

The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah at the event that government through a sinohydro facility will construct 1,800 per day incineration plant for Accra West, 200 metric tonnes per day transfer station for Accra East, 100 metric tonnes per day transfer station for Sekondi-Takoradi.

She hinted that her ministry has written to all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to deploy sanitation guards by July 2019 to the various communities to help enforce the sanitation laws in the country.

The Minister commended Zoomlion Ghana limited for the construction of a new Integrated Recycling and Compost plant (IRECOP) at Korle Bu, Accra which has the capacity to process 400 tonnes of waste into other re-usable products and urged the various households to own a waste bin to effectively store waste for onward collection.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Works and Housing, Samuel Atta-Akyea speaking on the theme “Preventing Sanitation Related Flooding, a Shared Responsibility”, made a passionate appeal to Ghanaians living in flood prone areas to move to safety grounds as the raining season intensifies.

Participants at the summit agreed on all multifaceted approaches including attitudinal change among the citizens to help attain improved sanitation.