'Where are you taking the waste after the clean-up exercise?' — Bekwai MP quizzes gov't

The Member of Parliament for Bekwai and Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament's Committee on Sanitation and Water Resources, Ralph Poku-Adusei, has called on the government to prioritise the payment of Environmental Service Providers rather than spending resources on its proposed two-day national clean-up exercise.

According to the legislator, ensuring that waste management companies receive the funds owed them would deliver a more sustainable and long-term solution to Ghana's growing sanitation challenges than organising periodic clean-up campaigns.

Speaking on ASH FM Kumasi on Tuesday, Mr. Poku-Adusei maintained that the country's environmental sanitation problems stem largely from the government's failure to adequately finance waste management operations across the country.

He explained that Ghana's Environmental Sanitation Policy clearly assigns the responsibility of waste collection and disposal to the government, making it the state's duty to provide the necessary logistics, equipment, infrastructure, personnel and financial resources required to keep communities clean.

The Bekwai MP argued that while public participation in sanitation campaigns remains important, government cannot shift its statutory responsibility onto citizens through occasional clean-up exercises without addressing the structural issues affecting waste management.

He stressed that the immediate concern facing the sanitation sector is the prolonged non-payment of Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA) members, many of whom have continued to provide essential services despite operating under expired contracts.

According to him, several licensed waste management companies have accumulated huge financial losses because of delays in government payments, leaving them unable to maintain their operations effectively.

Mr. Poku-Adusei disclosed that some of the affected companies are owed substantial amounts by the government, creating severe cash flow challenges that have affected their ability to procure fuel, maintain equipment, pay workers and continue regular waste collection.

He singled out Zoomlion Ghana Limited as one of the major service providers facing financial difficulties, noting that the company controls nearly 70 percent of the waste management market in the Greater Accra Region.

The MP stated that the company is reportedly owed several hundred million cedis by the government, a situation he believes has significantly affected its operational capacity and reduced the frequency of waste collection in many communities.

He explained that although the service agreements between government and environmental service providers have expired, the companies continued working in good faith while awaiting the renewal of their contracts and the settlement of outstanding arrears.

However, he observed that the prolonged uncertainty surrounding contract renewals and delayed payments has forced some service providers to either reduce their operations or suspend services altogether.

According to him, the consequences of these operational setbacks are becoming increasingly visible as refuse piles continue to build up in several towns and cities, raising public health concerns and threatening the country's sanitation gains.

"The government is not funding the service providers to carry out the services," Mr. Poku-Adusei stated, insisting that the country's sanitation crisis is fundamentally a financing problem rather than a lack of public willingness to keep communities clean.

He argued that if the government redirected the resources intended for the national clean-up exercise toward settling debts owed to waste management companies, the impact would be more meaningful and sustainable.

The lawmaker further maintained that regular and efficient waste collection by licensed service providers would eliminate the need for emergency clean-up campaigns while ensuring cleaner communities throughout the year.

He therefore called on the government to immediately renew the expired service agreements with environmental service providers to restore confidence within the sector and enable companies to plan their operations effectively.

In addition, he urged the government to provide a clear payment roadmap for settling all outstanding debts owed to waste management companies, saying such assurances would encourage providers to resume full-scale operations.

Hon. Poku-Adusei emphasized that environmental sanitation is a critical public health issue that requires consistent investment rather than short-term interventions, warning that failure to adequately support service providers could expose communities to disease outbreaks and environmental degradation.

He concluded by urging the government to adopt a more strategic and sustainable approach to sanitation management by strengthening partnerships with licensed environmental service providers, honouring its financial obligations, and ensuring that routine waste collection remains the cornerstone of Ghana's sanitation agenda.