The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) is seeking €6 million in financial support to construct a new engineered landfill site to address the growing sanitation challenge in the Metropolis, where more than 2,500 tonnes of waste are generated daily.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi, said the situation was putting considerable pressure on the assembly’s finances, as its existing landfill site served 14 assemblies.
He explained that the facility was scheduled for closure in 2019, but the absence of an alternative disposal site had compelled the assembly to continue using it, creating significant operational challenges.
Mr Boadi said the situation became particularly difficult during the rainy season, when vehicles transporting waste to the site frequently got stuck, disrupting waste disposal operations.
He further complained that waste generated from areas outside the Kumasi Metropolis was also dumped at the facility without any financial contribution towards its maintenance and the resolution of the challenges confronting it.
Mr Boadi made these remarks when he and officials of the KMA appeared before Parliament’s Committee on Local Government and Rural Development at a public hearing in Parliament yesterday.
The hearing was to consider the 2025 Auditor-General’s Report on Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), which had been referred to the committee by the Speaker of Parliament.
“The difficulty we are having is with our landfill site, which ought to have been closed in 2019. However, because we have not had the needed financial support to construct a new engineered landfill site, we have continued using it, and that is a challenge,” he stated.
He added that the assembly was bearing the burden of waste generated by 14 assemblies, as well as refuse from areas outside Kumasi, whose authorities did not contribute financially to managing the facility.
Despite the challenges, Mr Boadi noted that the assembly was taking steps to secure the necessary support, adding that it had engaged the relevant ministries and was optimistic that a proposal would be prepared for consideration by Cabinet.
He commended the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, for his interest in addressing the sanitation problem, particularly for facilitating the involvement of a Canadian company to assess a potential site for the construction of a new landfill facility.
The Vice-Chairperson of the Committee and Member of Parliament (MP) for Agotime-Ziope, Mr Charles Akwesi Agbeve, acknowledged the sanitation challenges confronting the assembly and urged the MCE to engage MPs within his jurisdiction to help develop lasting solutions.
He also commended Otumfuo Osei Tutu II for his commitment to addressing the sanitation problem in Kumasi and pledged the government’s support towards finding a lasting solution.
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
