News:
May 21, 2014
The Local Government minister is expected to appear before Parliament to explain why Accra and the major cities across the country have been engulfed in filth.
“We seek to bring the Local Government Minister to Parliament to answer questions about the garbage situation in the country. It is not only about Accra. Last week we heard reports about the filthy situation in Sekondi Takoradi, in Tema, in Kumasi and almost all the big cities in the country.
“So we will bring the minister to answer questions as to why the situation is so terrible and his outfit seems to be doing so little or making no effort at all to see that the situation is remedied,” a member of the Local Government Committee of Parliament Mr Ameyaw Kyeremeh told Joy News.
The media has been inundated with stories about major capitals choking with filth.
The situation has become so devastating that the Chief Executives from all ten assemblies in Accra and Tema decided to meet the deputy local government minister, Emmanuel Agyekum to find a solution to refuse management crisis facing the city.
Waste management companies are unable to collect rubbish in many areas in Accra because they have either not been paid for previous collections or cannot find a final disposal site for the garbage.
The only landfill site located at Kpone is under severe pressure.
The Accra compost plant which recycles a bulk of the city’s waste was shut down yesterday with more than hundred workers laid-off.
The fate of two hundred others hangs in the balance unless they receive some 25 million cedis owed them for two years.
Mr Ameyaw Kyeremeh said the minister, Mr Akwasi Oppong-Fosu has questions to answer.
He argued all the district assemblies are under the control of the minister. “So if the district assemblies are failing it means the minister is also failing,” he indicated.
He chided government for failing to release monies on time to the district assemblies in order for them to do their jobs.
“Government is supposed to pay district assemblies monies from the common fund but Government fails to release the monies on time. The assemblies also engage waste management contractors to provide the service. They are supposed to pay them according to the terms of their contract but because government fails to pay the assemblies on time they are also unable to pay the contractors. That has led to the contractors withdrawing their services.
Ameyaw Kyeremeh wondered why government would pump money elsewhere when the country is being suffocated by filth.
“Cleanliness is next to godliness” he reminded government, saying monies must be made available to remedy the situation.