News:
September 16, 2019
Chairman of the Committee on Environment, Science and Technology, Yaw Frimpong Addo is advocating for an increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) to address sanitation challenges confronting the country.
According to the chairman, there are limited resources available and government alone cannot address the increasing sanitation issues hence the need for Ghanaians to play their part by paying more taxes to reduce dangers associated with the environment.
Mr. Yaw Frimpong Addo made this remarks to journalists who accompanied a joint committee of Works and Housing, Local Government and Rural Development and Environment Science and Technology when they visited lavender hills and Zoomlion a leading waste company.
Ranking member on the committee of Works and Housing, Emmanuel Kwesi Bedzrah noted that without the needed input from the state, business in the waste industry stand the risk of folding up.
And singled out Zoomlion for praise in the areas of solid and liquid waste collection. The Ho West lawmaker urged the state to discharge whatever contractual or financial obligation it has with Zoomlion to enable it remain in business.
He further pointed out in an interview that the tour by the three joint committees that has visited Kumasi, Accra, Tamale and Tarkoradi is to tour facilities on waste management, and see how we are prepared as a nation towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Mr. Emmanuel Kwesi Bedzrah disclosed that the committees trip to Kumasi revealed that people are dumping solid waste at landfill sites, and anything you dump decomposes naturally, if you have a facility that can recycle the by-product would be used to generate income and create jobs as well, he emphasised.
“When we visited Zoomlion looking at the recycle machines they have in Accra we are asking can we have such facility across the country, so that we do not have solid waste dump at landfill site to juts naturally decomposed.