The Communications Manager of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Ernest Morgan Acquah, has criticized some local tricycle operators, commonly referred to as “Aboboyaa” for improperly disposing of waste collected from smaller communities.
“There’s a breach with the collection. We have an influx of Aboboyaa now, so we will consider them as picking the waste. But most of them don’t dispose it rightly. We have transfer stations that some take the waste to us, others don’t.
“The problem is that some of them, when they pick it from the households, we’re counting them as picking the waste as part of the 70%. But the 70% they will go dispose it off at different places – Motorway, sometimes at night. When you ply the Tema Motorway, you will see heaps of waste.”
He disclosed that currently, 70% of waste generated in Accra is collected, leaving 30% uncollected.
He clarified that major waste management firms, including Zoomlion, handle 80% of the waste collection, with the remaining 20% managed by local tricycle operators, commonly referred to as “Aboboyaa”.
This division of responsibility underscores the challenge of waste management in Accra, a city plagued by recurrent flooding, often worsened by blocked drains filled with refuse.
In an interview on Citi TV’s The Point of View, he said, “The sanitation people tell me we’re collecting in Accra something in the region of 70% to 80%.”
“That is what we’re told by those who do the research. What we’re finding on the ground is quite a lot, though we have been doing regular clean-ups with the Assemblies. In just the first quarter, we’re aiming for around 250 tons per assembly for the month, we’re exceeding it for every Assembly. People are just throwing in the gutters and all of that,” he said.
Mr. Acquah voiced concern about the lack of a suitable landfill site in Accra. He mentioned that the waste disposal challenge has been tackled through the establishment of recycling plants in all 16 regions.
“Currently, in Accra, about 80% of the waste we pick, we dispose it, only 20% goes into the recycling plant. Zoomlion has introduced the recycling plant across the country. Now we have a recycling plant in all the 16 regions,” Mr Acquah stated.