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MMDAs get 20,000 dustbins to tackle sanitation

The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources has launched a programme to distribute 20,000 dustbins to various Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts Assemblies across the country to improve sanitation.

Dubbed ‘Street Litter Bins,’ the programme, is part of initiatives to curb public littering and help in the realisation of government’s agenda to make Accra and Ghana at large clean.

Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, speaking at the launch in Accra yesterday, said all beneficiary MMDAs would be required to sign an agreement on the management and sustainability of the litter bins.

Additionally, she said the assemblies were also expected to train their Environmental Health Officers on the use of the Kobo Collect or the ESICApps,  mobile applications developed by the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) Sanitation and Water Project, to capture all locations of mounted bins digitally, to ensure proper tracking and monitoring.

Dedicated phone numbers would be printed on all the bins to receive complaints from the public in relation to overflowing, full, dirty or damaged bins for immediate action by the respective assembly and to enable the ministry to monitor those assigned to clean and dislodge the bins, she said.

To prolong the useful life span of the bins, Madam Osei-Opare said specific officers from the various assemblies would be assigned to clean and maintain the bins by private service providers.

She urged the MMDAs to intensify supervision and monitoring roles on private waste service providers contracted to collect refuse at city centres, and other parts of the country to ensure a clean and healthy environment.

“Clean cities are good attraction for tourists and investors, leading to increased local economy. We all have major roles to play in addressing sanitation challenges and creating the enabling environment to attract and support investment and economic activities,” she added.

The Chief of Staff appealed to Ghanaians to only use the bin for the disposal of handy litter and not household waste and challenged plastic manufacturing companies to work with the ministry and the MMDAs to deal permanently with the haphazard disposal of plastic waste, which constitute more than 10 per cent of Ghana’s waste stream.

Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, stated that the new bins to be distributed would augment existing ones in the various metropolitan, municipal and district across the country to deal with public littering.

She said it would be stationed at public places and institutions for proper garbage keeping and enables efficient collection and evacuation of waste.

Poor sanitation, the minister said, retired progress and development, negatively impacted on tourism and business growth, adding  that it was imperative sanitation service delivery was undertaken as poverty reduction tool and not a mere basic service.

She said the distribution list for the bins had been developed in collaboration with the MMDAs with roadmap for distribution currently being discussed.

In the meantime, Madam Dapaah indicated that the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) and all relevant stakeholders had developed a plastic policy for the country and would go through the appropriate processes before its implementation.

Chief Executive of Adenta Municipal Assembly, Daniel Alexander Nii-Noi Adumuah, on behalf of the assemblies, pledged the commitment of the MMDAs to ensuring that litters were emptied regularly and kept tidy.

He said that the MMDAs had put in place measures, including installation of cameras, to protect the bins from thieves adding “that anyone caught tempering with the bins will be arrested and prosecuted.”


BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS

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