100RC, AMA Resilience Team And Dalberg Tour Achimota Waste Transfer Station

The Chief Resilience Officer, Desmond Appiah on Friday led stakeholders from 100RC, Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) Resilience Team and DALBERG to tour Zoomlion’s Waste Transfer Station at Achimota.

The purpose of the visit according to Mr. Appiah is to learn first-hand about their operations in Accra, and appreciate the interdependent concerns with the shocks (sudden, catastrophic events) and stresses (underlying social and physical challenges) saddling Accra.

Commissioned for business by the Mayor, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, in May 2017, the Waste Transfer Station serves as a transit point for waste hurled from other parts of the city before finally disposal at approved landfill sites across the city after treatment. This in turn, helps facilitate the smooth flow of waste across the capital whilst providing employment.

Addressing journalists and stakeholders from 100RC, the AMA Resilience Team, and Dalberg, the Chief Engineer at the station, Mr Haruna Sulley underscored the need for opening such facilities across the capital and even the nation at large due to its positive impact in helping curb the sprawling waste management deficit that has plagued the nation for long.

“With Accra producing generating about 4,000 tonnes of waste daily, this system catalyses the operation and makes it very fast so we are calling for more of such stations to be built across the station.” The Chief Engineer noted.

In extolling the emergence of the Waste Transfer Stations, Desmond Appiah, said the new venture has helped control the aggravating pressure on landfill sites across the metropolis and hence stressed the need for operators of these station to extend their operational time for incoming waste management vehicles who operate at night.

“As the Resilience and Sustainability Advisor to the Mayor as well, I am confident we can liaise with your management to help resolve strategic and operational challenges facing the station to move the Waste Transfer Station to the next stage. AMA is the major stakeholder and encourages you to reach out for stronger collaboration to ensure sustained success at the end of the day. Our doors are opened and we commend you for the good work you are doing for the city. “

“In a larger scheme of things this is a solution that we see is a win- win for the city because the distances are shorter because people can dispose off their waste quickly, go back and collect what they have to collect. “ I asked about the operational time because we have had concerns especially the trucks that come from the city when they go landfill they finish at night sometime 9pm by which time the transfer station is closed, so these guys now go back and pack vehicles and wait for the time these transfer stations will be opened.”

Asked whether there will be a time for waste segregation would be prevalent in the country, Mr Appiah admitted that waste segregation would take some time before being introduced citing our waste composition structure as one of the key challenge. He however urged the need for opening more recycling plants in the city and the country at large as a means to achieving this.

He further noted that education is also another means through which waste segregation will be enhanced as he revealed that his outfit has started rolling out measures to sensitize students through their recently launched “School Segregation Program”.

About 100 Resilient Cities—Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation

100 Resilient Cities – Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation (100RC) helps cities around the world become more resilient to social, economic, and physical challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century. 100RC provides this assistance through: funding for a Chief Resilience Officer in each of our cities who will lead the resilience efforts; resources for drafting a resilience strategy; access to private sector, public sector, academic, and NGO resilience tools; and membership in a global network of peer cities to share best practices and challenges. For more information, visit: www.100ResilientCities.org.

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