Oko Vanderpuije said everyone should be involved in managing waste
Former Mayor of Accra, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, has rejected claims that waste management company, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, should be blamed for the sanitation problems in the country.
According to him, waste management is a shared responsibility, hence, it will be out of place to single out one entity as the cause of the filth in many parts of the country.
His comment comes on the heels of claims by Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Joseph Kofi Adda, that Zoomlion Ghana is to blame for the filth in the capital, Accra.
The Minister, who was speaking at a Sanitation Forum in Accra on Friday, 9 March 2018, singled out Zoomlion Ghana Limited for failing to ensure that the waste in the environment are collected and disposed of properly.
He said: “Dr Agyapong [CEO of Zoomlion Ghana Limited and Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies], I’m sorry to disappoint you here…finding solid waste everywhere I feel really disappointed and if you were to ask me why this thing is so, I will put the blame squarely on Zoomlion. Zoomlion, to me, is the cause of it”.
Mr Adda said it was the responsibility of the private waste management company to supervise the cleaning of the environment. However, “they are not sweeping and collecting everyday”.
But speaking in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of the Ghana Yensom on Accra 100.5FM on Monday, 12 March 2018, Mr Vanderpuije who is the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma South said: “Keeping the sanitation clean is not the duty of one person or one entity, it is the responsibility of all stakeholders.
“Government has a role to play, waste management companies including Zoomlion have their roles to play and the citizens also have a role to play.
“This is a shared responsibility and so we cannot hold Zoomlion alone or any waste management company responsible for the sanitation problems.”
