Zoomlion Capable of Managing Waste in Ghana

The Executive Chairman of Jospong Group of Companies, Joseph Siaw-Agyepong, has given the assurance that Zoomlion Ghana Limited was ready and better positioned to lead the crusade in solving the sanitation challenges facing the country.

According to him, the company was more determined and ready to double its effort in ensuring that challenges that confronted the country’s sanitation were solved.

Speaking at the sanitation forum organised by the GCGL, with support from Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Citi Fm, the Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA) and the Omni Bank, Mr Siaw-Agyepong called for the enforcement of existing regulations and by-laws to deal with the sanitation canker.

“We have too many laws in this country, but enforcing them is the challenge,” he said.

Mr Siaw-Agyepong said unless there was a change in the mindset of the public, the fight against filth could not be won.

Making Accra Clean

President Nana Addo Dankwa-Akufo in April last year made an audacious declaration to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa.

Following that announcement, Zoomlion Ghana Limited embarked on a number of interventions to help achieve the government’s vision.

In the wake of the President’s agenda to move the country beyond aid, Dr Agyapong said it was equally important to take the sanitation challenge beyond aid by supporting the private sector to tackle the situation head on.

Enumerating the achievements of Zoomlion as a waste- management company with a good track record, Mr. Siaw-Agyepong urged Ghanaians to sustain the momentum on the national crusade until the country was rid of filth.

He emphasized the need to prioritize the use of refuse bins in households and public places to facilitate the collection of waste.

“The reality of the issue is that if we do not pay for waste collection, we are depriving the private sector of working diligently,” he said, emphasizing that service providers were not being paid promptly for their services.

He further stressed the need for attitudinal change, adding that “it does not matter if we collect all the waste all the time because without a change in our attitudes, we cannot go anywhere.

Kofi Adda, Minister of Sanitaion, commended Zoomlion for the huge investment it had made in waste management in the country and said government was also in the process of reintroducing sanitation brigades and guards to support enforcement.

For his part, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Anthony Nisiah-Asare, stressed the need for a change in the attitude of Ghanaian concerning waste management.

He said until people refrained from destructive behaviour, particularly, dumping of refuse indiscriminately, Ghana could not purge itself of filth.