Aflao residents beg govt to reclaim private land illegally used as dumpsite for 50 years

Some opinion leaders and Assembly members at Aflao in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta Region are calling on the Ministry of Health and the Ketu South Municipal Authority, to close down an illegal dumpsite in Dekeme, a residential area within the Aflao enclave.

According to the Assemblyman for Aflagatigome Electoral Area, Mr Amuzu Mohammed, since 1976, the residents in the area began illegally dumping refuse on what was, otherwise, a property worth developing, thus, rendering it useless for the past five decades since it has now become a sprawling landfill site.

The owner of the property, at the time, was resident in the national capital, Accra.

The property is now the default landfill site for waste management companies in more than six electoral areas, Mr Amuzu decried.

Although the land is well-fenced, some residents still find their way there to dump their waste while others use it as a toilet facility.

On a visit to the site on Monday, 27 April 2020, children were seen openly defecating on the dumpsite while portions of the garbage smothered with unpleasant stench from the yard.

Speaking to CTV about the situation, Mr Agbeko Kumaza, a son of the late landlord, recalled: “They started dumping [refuse] here long ago, by then we were all in Accra and anytime my father visited home, he used to stop them but whenever he returned to Accra, the people continued dumping here”, adding: “This continued and my father could not finally stop them before his death, so, when we, the children in Accra relocated to this place [Aflao], we continued from where our father left off”.

The 67-year-old man said his family has met successive governments over the situation but to no avail.

“We used to tell them [the Ketu South Municipal Assembly] but it’s not working out, but through you, we are hoping to see this thing removed from here for the land to be free”, he said.

A government appointee in the electoral area, Sancho Acussah, said several efforts have been put into evacuating the dumpsite to spare the residents the health hazards but only the central government can make that a reality.

“Just look at this, it’s almost three or four storeys high; very very bad and just imagine the houses that are just close to the dumpsite, it poses a health hazard”, he complained.

“You can even imagine the stench, the flies and everything; very hazardous but with you [CTV] being here; carry us on your wings, show it to our leaders and everybody in this country so that they can come to our aid”, he said.

In the meantime, the Assembly, through the efforts of the landowners, regularly fumigate the site to fight malaria and cholera outbreaks which stem from the landfill site.

For his part, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the area, Mr Elliott Agbenorwu, said the Assembly is responding to the concerns of the locals.

He noted that his office recently met the municipal managers of private waste company Zoomlion and deliberated how to clear the site and use it for agricultural purposes.

“The Assembly has tried to do a few things to do the evacuation but we have some challenge”, Mr Agbenorwu revealed, explaining: “One, the place is not accessible but I’ve had conversation with the Zoomlion manager to come and assess the place to see the possibility of converting this into a fertiliser factory or anything, so, he has really expressed interest but he is yet, actually, to send his men to come and look at it”.

“As they said, it’s been there for long and it’s not a good thing to justify that it’s been there for long and, so, we shouldn’t do something [about]. We tried doing something and we will still continue to pursue it and see the possibility of converting the refuse into a factory or into something productive, so, we can make very good use of the place”, Mr Agbenorwu.

The family members, including Mr Agbeko Kumaza, indicated that the family is ready to make the land available to the Assembly for any development project – market or lorry terminal.

“They should remove it and use the land for whatever they want to use it for; all we are asking for is its removal because it is dangerous to our health, they can use it for a market or lorry station”, Mr Kumaza said.

Is the land accessible for a market or bus terminal?

Though the site is hard to access, the Assemblymen for the area say they have managed to create a path there.

“They have been saying that they wished to clear up the place but if only there’s a route where the excavators will pass. Now, the communities have managed to make a place, as you can see,” the Aflao Zonal Council Chairman, Mr Seth Kwasi Abehia noted.

The site is just a few miles away from Lome, the national capital of the Republic of Togo, which shares borders with Ghana. Residents from Bit 1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7 have been dumping their refuse there for the past 46 years.