Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, Executive Chairman, Jospong Group, says his outfit was committed to ensuring sustainable alternatives to the waste management situation in the country. He said such alternatives they believe, would contribute significantly to mitigate the threats of public health and environmental safety.
Dr Agyepong made this observation during the commissioning of the phase two of the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant (ACARP), a subsidiary of the company at Adjen Kotoku in the Ga West Municipal District, by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo in Accra. He said the commissioning of the phase two of the project, which was officially established in July 2012, was in response to the lack of facilities to receive and process waste in a sustainable way.
He said the plant was a workable solution to the daunting waste management challenges confronting the country and a direct response to attaining Goal six of the Sustainable Development Goals, which demands the provision of clean environmental sanitation management to protect the ecosystem and promote healthy environment.
The Executive Chairman said the project was the second phase of the three-phased composting and recycling plant, which adds 800-tons line to the existing 600-tons facility.
“The current 600-ton facility will be retrofitted and upgraded to an 800-ton facility bringing the total to 2000-ton project,” he said. He said the project also sought to provide the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) within the catchment areas, a viable and cost-effective alternative to dumpsites, and would help meet the growing demand for organic compost for soil enhancement mediums or fertilizers. “It will provide sustainable material and energy recovery solutions to the high or increasing levels of recyclables in our Municipal Solid Waste.
The Plant, which started with a workforce of 150 will be adding an additional 300 more,” he added. Currently, the Jospong Group employs over 6,000 core staff and 45,000 operatives totalling a workforce of 51,000 people.
Dr Agyepong said Greater Accra Region generated about 3000 tonnes of waste, and the project was one of the biggest plant on the African continent. He expressed appreciation to the President for his visionary leadership, committed to environmental sanitation and dedication to private sector development, saying the plant was one of the private sector led initiative in the environmental sector.
Alhaji Amidu Issahaku Chennai, the Deputy Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, said the Ministry recognised the important role Zoomlion was playing in the sanitation sub-sector to find answers to ever growing waste generated
He said the Ministry acknowledged that the solution to waste management challenges facing the country laid in the absence of infrastructure to process the waste into other useful products and ventures that required huge financial commitment, which government alone could not bear. “But government is in the process of involving several waste infrastructural projects, so that we can manage waste in Ghana,” he said.
The Deputy Minister said, the role of the private sector was indispensable and it was against this background that the Ministry had opened up to the private sector players that had the capacity to raise the needed financial resources to collaborate with government in the kind of infrastructural development required for the sustainable management of the waste.
He commended Zoomlion for their phenomenal contribution in the sanitation sub-sector, saying government would continue to create the enabling environment for businesses to grow.
Mr Augustine Collins Ntim, Deputy Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, said the project was an innovative way of managing waste and had contributed significantly in keeping the MMDA’s clean. He said the commissioning of the project was a welcoming news to the Ministry as the population was growing and it had become necessary to expand the facility.
The Deputy Minister commended Zoomlion for their continuous show of support and partnership in the quest to find lasting solution to sanitation challenges in the Assemblies.
“The Ministry will continue to support the Ministry of Sanitation to provide technical support to the various MMDAs, so as to ensure that the shelf lives,” he added.
GNA