President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday returned to Alajo, one of the areas hardest hit by the June 29 floods, for day two of the National General Clean-Up Exercise, with a directive that all waste scooped from drains must be immediately trucked to dump sites.
The President, who was at the same venue on Friday, said the focus today was on clearing garbage left by the roadside after drains were desilted on day one.
"We Cannot Leave The Garbage By The Roadside"
Addressing residents and volunteers at Alajo, President Mahama said past clean-ups failed because waste was not evacuated on time.
Yesterday one of the directives I gave was that In the past, we do this clean ups, we take all the garbage out of the gutters, but we don't follow up and come and collect the garbage that is by the roadside. And so when the rain falls, all is washed back into the drains,” the President said.
"And so today we're going to concentrate on scooping all that garbage. We took out of the drains into these big trucks to be taken to the dump sites.”
He acknowledged that one day would not be enough to clear the entire city and tasked the military and other agencies to continue the work even after the two day event ends officially.
If you look at the city and all the garbage we've taken out, we cannot do it in one day so we'll all help to do it today but tomorrow the army and the other agencies will continue to clear, all the garbage that was taking out of the drains.”
6 Transfer Stations To Be Operationalized
President Mahama also announced plans to operationalize
six transfer stations built over eleven years ago to make waste disposal easier for tricycle operators and communities.
We've had six transfer stations that where built more than nine years ago. Unfortunately they were not put into operation, We have asked the contractor (Zoomlion) to open the transfer stations, so that the Aboboyas and others can take the garbage to the transfer stations.”
“They don't need to go all the way to Amasaman to the landfills. If they dump at the transfer stations, these big trucks will load the garbage and take them to the landfills.”
He urged commercial tricycle operators, popularly called Aboboyaa, to use the nearest facility.
And so all the Aboboyaa that are taking part in this exercise. You don't need to go to Amasaman. Go to the nearest transfer station"
The President called on more residents to join the exercise, describing Ghanaians as a resilient people.
I want to thank everybody who's came out and those who are still at home, all of you come out, we are doing this together. Ghana is a resilient country, and we will bounce back better than before. Thank you very much.”
“The Alajo was the greatest hit by the June 29 floods. The turn out is also good, but I'm just calling on those who are still in the houses and are yet to come out, please come out and join us so that we clean the city after the flood.”
Transfer Stations
Ahmed Ibrahim, Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, said the ministry will ensure the transfer stations are opened and evaluated within the next week.
He noted that Ghana's sanitation challenges an only addressed by a collaborative efforts of government, private sector and communal labour.
Can the desilting and clearing of filth be done by communal labour? The answer is no, it is done by private sector together with MMDAs and and the central government.”
The 2-day National Clean-Up Exercise ends today, with focus on waste evacuation, desilting, and disinfection in flood-affected communities across the country.
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