Photo of a landfill site in Accra
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has raised an urgent alarm, announcing that the landfill sites in the city have reached maximum capacity.
According to the AMA, this situation poses a significant risk of disease outbreaks, raising concerns among residents and health experts.
The update was shared with the Parliamentary Committee on Water Resources and Sanitation during a recent visit to assemblies in the Greater Accra Region.
Solomon Noi, the Director of Waste Management at the AMA, explained that the situation has worsened due to inadequate waste disposal infrastructure and the lack of engineered landfill sites.
“We used to dump at a place called Nsumia in Ga West, after Blue Skies, and it was a quarry site. Once we filled that depression, we had to move to where we are now, Nsawam. Nsawam Adoagyiri was using it too, and it later became a Greater Accra and the Eastern Region site which is now privately managed by West Land Force,” he said.
He further noted that the only engineered landfill available is in Kpone, while a new site is being considered at Ayidan in the Ga South Municipality.
“There are certain things to look out for before siting a dump site when selecting a dump site. So, except the one at Kpone and the new one we are thinking of getting at Ayidan, there’s nothing like that,” he added.
The AMA is urging the government to intervene and find a sustainable solution to the city’s waste management crisis.
As Accra grapples with a growing population and increasing waste generation, the need for effective waste disposal strategies has never been more urgent.
Solomon Noi warned that without immediate action, the city could soon face a health crisis.
“What we are doing is collecting waste from Accra and sending it far away, but it’s not really far enough. These sites are not engineered. So when it rains, leachate seeps into rivers and depressions, and it finds its way back to the city” he said.
He also expressed concerns about health risks arising from improperly managed medical and sanitary waste and the role of waste pickers, many of whom are migrants from neighboring countries, in spreading infections.
“All the hospital and healthcare waste ends up there. It mingles with other waste, and these people come back into town with it, that’s why we keep seeing cycles of cholera, typhoid, and other infections,” he explained.
To avert further public health threats, he recommended constructing a modern intermediate waste treatment facility.
“The way to go for the government is to get an intermediate treatment facility, such as a state-of-the-art incineration plant, to deal with non-recyclables like baby diapers, sanitary pads, and healthcare waste,” he said.
He added, “Pathogens would die in the furnace before the bottom ash is taken to a landfill site. This’s how we close the chain of disease infection.”
NAD/KA
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