President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reaffirmed his government’s support for private corporations whose aim is to promote development and create jobs for Ghanaians.
“I am committed to supporting any private company that promotes development of Ghana. That is why I am not ashamed to be the one commissioning the liquid and waste treatment facilities being constructed by Zoomlion across the country,” the President said.
President Akufo-Addo made the observation when he cut the sod for work to begin on a solid waste treatment facility in Goaso last Sunday for the people of Ahafo.
The Ahafo solid waste treatment facility is expected to promote sanitation by processing solid waste materials produced in the region.
Solid waste bye-products such as plastic, electronic waste, metal scraps as well as electronic waste are expected to be processed into useful reusable products such as polythene, cooking utensils and fertilisers for farming activities.
The construction of the facility forms part of government’s strategic public private partnerships to promote government’s dual agenda of One District One Factory as well as creating a healthier and cleaner environment for all Ghanaians.
The facility is expected to convert the organic component of waste into compost using aerobic composting process, or into biogas using anaerobic digestion in bio-digesters.
It will co-compost faecal sludge along with the organic fraction of municipal solid waste.
It will also recover and sort recyclable materials, such as plastics, metals, papers, and glass for direct sale in the market.
The President also stated that his government was committed to improving the lot of the people of the Ahafo and that was why the project was brought there.
Background
The solid waste treatment facility is a project of Zoomlion in partnership with the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources as well as Komptech and Purecco.
When completed, the integrated solid waste facility is expected to create socioeconomic opportunities by providing safe jobs to the poor residents and waste pickers, with better incomes and working conditions, and by facilitating the development of local market or value chains for waste-to-resource products.
Door-to-door waste collection services and the operation of the simple and cost-effective technologies that require manual labour where several workers can be employed.
The facility will also improve the working conditions of labourers, with good occupational health and safety through the regular use of gloves, boots, uniforms and masks, and provides them training to upgrade their skills as well as mitigate environmental pollution by reducing GHG emissions.
Every ton of waste generated in the Ahafo Region will be converted into compost thereby saving at least half a ton of carbon dioxide emissions.
In addition, by improving the collection and treatment of biodegradable waste in the community, the treatment facility will improve public health and sanitation conditions due to diminished disease vectors that breed in open waste.
By diverting the organic and recoverable fractions from the municipal waste stream, the treatment facility will also reduce the need for landfills and for transporting waste. In the long-term, this can help a local or national government to allocate the saved funds to further improve urban waste management and other integrated aspects of sustainable urban development.
The three solid waste treatment projects are built on creating public awareness and facilitating the widespread adoption of 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) practices. This is elementary in changing citizens’ behaviours towards more waste- conscious, resource efficient, and sustainable lifestyles.
