MPs happy as Zoomlion makes giant stride in constructing waste treatment plants across Ghana
Members of a joint Parliamentary Select Committee have been overwhelmed with progress of work on the construction of the integrated waste treatment plants across five regions that they have visited.
The Chairman of the Local Government and Rural Development, Hon. Emmanuel Akwesi Gyamfi, speaking to the press after visiting the construction site at Sunyani in the Bono Region, observed that members of the committee were stunned with the level of work and investments made on the construction of the integrated solid and liquid waste treatment plants in the regions they have visited so far.
“We are very much impressed with construction works being undertaken by the investors to support government in waste management” he stated.
He further noted that, the benefits of the project are enormous to the development of the country and cannot be over emphasized.
The Chairman, who called on stakeholders to support the project, reiterated that the project will create employment for the teaming youth in the various regions, produce compost to support agriculture and ensure a healthy environment for everyone.
The joint Parliamentary Select Committee of Parliament, which is made up of Local Government and Rural Development, Environment, Science and Technology, Works and Housing and Finance Committee, have so far been to five regions namely Western, Western North, Ashanti, Ahafo and Bono regions to be abreast with the level of work regarding construction of integrated solid and liquid waste plants and other developmental projects in the those regions. And also collaborate with the MMDAs to deliver on their mandate.
The Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu-Banahene, who welcomed the joint Parliamentary Select Committee to the region, was thankful to President Nana Addo for his visionary leadership in consenting to the establishment of such projects across the country.
“This project, which will process about 500 ton of waste a day, will further improve sanitation in the region and we have the president to thank for” she noted.
The Ahafo Regional Minister, George Yaw Boakye, who received the Committee earlier in his region, was particularly happy that the project when completed will provide the needed job for his people.
“This project is dear to my heart because it will reduce the employment rate in the region, as well as provide manure for our farmers which will increase food production,” he stressed.
He pledged his support in ensuring that project would be completed in time. The two projects are expected to be completed in August this year.
The two facilities are state-of-the-art waste management facilities with the capacity to process some 500 and 300 metric tonnes of solid waste per day respectively. The facilities also have the capacity to process 1,000 cubic metres of liquid waste per day as well as medical wastes.
The two compost and recycling plants is part of Zoomlion Ghana Limited’s Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant (IRECOP), a waste processing and recycling facility established by the Jospong Group of Companies to receive, sort, process and recycle waste.
The Sekondi-Takoradi success story
A multi-purpose waste treatment plant meant to phase out the operations of Sofokrom Landfill site at Essipong in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly is also gradually taking shape to the admiration of Parliament of Ghana.
Company officials say the project which commenced in August 2020 following a sod-cutting ceremony performed by the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo amidst fanfare, is about 41% complete.
The company officials and project engineers are very confident that the GH₵15million facility will be completed on schedule – ending of July, 2021, following which the installation of £5.5million machinery will commence.
The project occupying a 200-acre land has four components including; an Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant (IRECOP), a Liquid Waste Treatment Plant, a Medical Waste Treatment Plant, a Residual Landfill Site and a Training Centre.
Located at Assakae in the Effia Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly, the project will also have a car park and some other ancillary facilities. It also has an 8km bitumen surface road which is under construction at a cost of GH₵55million.
