... Says Over 80% Cleared, Appeals for More Private Sector Support
The Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Hon. Mahama Ayariga, has expressed excitement and satisfaction with the pace of work at the IRECOP landfill waste evacuation site.
Speaking during a visit to the site today, the Minister said the progress made so far exceeded his expectations, noting that where the team is currently standing was previously inaccessible due to the huge heaps of waste.
"I'm excited, I'm happy with the pace of work, and very satisfied with the leadership demonstrated by the team here. I couldn't have imagined that where we are standing would be able to walk freely the way that we have walked today," Hon. Ayariga said.
He recalled the state of the first heap on the day the President commissioned the work and said what is left is far less than 20 percent of what was there.
"I'm sure you saw the day that the President commissioned the work, saw where the heap started from, and today you've seen. I'm sure that what is left there is not up to 20 percent of what was there, far, far less than that. And assurance I'm getting is that within three, four days that heap should also be cleared," he stated.
The Minister explained that there were three heaps on one side of the site and one major heap on the other side with a small portion. He said two heaps have been almost cleared and work will soon begin on the main heap.
"As you can see, the two heaps are almost all cleared within the next four, five days. Then this main heap, they will approach it, and as engineers, they will know how to resolve that problem," he said.
He expressed confidence that the entire exercise should be over in about a month or two, after which focus will shift to land reclamation and dredging of the river to allow free flow of water.
"I believe that in about a month or two, this whole exercise should be over, and then we'll be looking at how to reclaim the land, and then also to dredge the river and take out that section so that there can be free flow of the water," he added.
Commends Workers
Hon. Ayariga thanked all operators, drivers, supervisors and coordinators from various districts who have converged to execute the work for their dedication.
"I thank them for their dedication. I thank all the operators, all the drivers, all the supervisors, all the coordinators from the various districts that have converged here to get this work done," he said.
He disclosed that President John Dramani Mahama is expected to visit the site soon to inspect progress.
Private Sector Support
The Minister used the occasion to renew his appeal to civil society and private sector businesses to support the initiative.
He revealed that the Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC) had made a donation of fuel products worth about GH¢191,000 in coupons and cash to support operations.
He also disclosed that Sentuo Oil Refinery earlier supported the exercise with 13,500 litres of diesel.
"At the beginning, Sentuo Oil Refinery sent us 13,500 litres of diesel and we want to thank them for their support," he said, correcting an earlier figure.
Hon. Ayariga said while the Ministry of Finance has been supporting the project very generously, there is still a lot more work to be done, especially dredging of the river which he described as a major undertaking.
"We continue to appeal to them. All other corporate entities should come in with support because there's still a lot of work to be done. I mean, dredging this river alone is going to be a major undertaking, and so we are still appealing to the private sector to assist with some donations," he appealed.
He thanked the media and assured that government remains committed to completely evacuating the decades-old waste and restoring the area.
