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Former UN Resident Coordinator advocates harnessing technology to address waste management

By
Iddi Yire, GNA

Accra, Nov. 23, GNA
– Mr Opia Mensah Kumah, a former United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator and
UNDP Resident Representative, has called for the need to harness technology to
address the issue of waste management in the country.

He cited major
transformation technologies in waste management industry such as composting,
recycling, waste to energy and landfill modernisation.

Mr Kumah advocated
for household waste collection and the elimination of community container bins;
declaring that the nation could adopt these technologies and measures to make
Accra and other cities in the country very clean.

He said in order to
resolve the issue of waste management, there is the need for a strong political
will on the part of the government adding that waste management must be
addressed pragmatically.

Mr Kumah made the
appeal in his presentation at the 102nd Ordinary Meeting of the Ghana
Association of Former International Civil Servants (GAFICS) in Accra.

GAFICS was formed on
14th September 2000 and comprises former Ghanaian Professional Staff
of the United Nations and other International Intergovernmental Organizations.

Its members are
committed to the United Nations principles of mutual understanding and
cooperation and appreciate the opportunities they have had to acquire skills
and expertise, working with international and inter-governmental organisations which
could be beneficial to national development.

Consequently, GAFICS
is desirous of making a contribution towards the social and economic
development of Ghana as well as promoting the welfare of its members.

Mr Kumah, who spoke
on the topic “Governance and Filth: Urban Waste Management in Africa”, used
case studies from Kigali in Rwanda and Moroni in the Union of Comoros to
explain how these two countries were able to overcome the waste menace.

“I first visited
Kigali in 1985.  At that time, a French
colleague of mine described the city as “une grande bananerie” – one big banana
plantation. That description was apt. The city did indeed seem to comprise
mainly of thatch-roofed huts and a few modern buildings scattered amidst lush,
mostly banana, foliage,” he said.

“Fast forward to the
21st century, and we have a different image.  In the past decade or so, Kigali has
undergone a near miraculous transformation. Today it is undoubtedly among the
cleanest and most ordered cities anywhere. 
The thatch-roof houses have disappeared. And there isn’t a stray piece
of paper, plastic or any kind of litter to be found anywhere.  How did this change happen?”

He attributed the
Rwandan success story to visionary and bold leadership, a laser focus on
development and pragmatic solutions that deliver results not slogans.

With regards to
Accra, Mr Kumah said the three defining waste management challenges of the city
were waste collection and disposal, the plastic curse  and drainage and flood control; stating these
three were inextricably linked and combine for significant public health,
economic and socio-political effect.

Mr Kumah, who is
also a GAFICS Member, said in Accra affluent communities are clean whilst poor
communities were filthy; stating that for the majority no household waste
collection exists but rather community container bins, which develop into
rubbish mountains.

He said for the city
as a whole, there is the problem of inadequate waste disposal and
transformation infrastructure.

Mr Kumah called for
the installation of bins everywhere, regular collection of waste – daily,
semi-weekly, weekly depending on type of location and density, varying
collection and conveyance vehicles – from mopeds to tricycles to trucks, eliminating
Rubbish Mountains and converting them into green spaces.

Mr Kwaku D.
Osei-Bonsu, President of GAFICS, said in order to address the waste menace in
the country, there is the need for strict enforcement of the sanitation by-laws
of the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs).

Mr Wonderful B.
Ghartey, Founder and Director, SHAPE Attitude Ghana, said to address the waste
problem in the country, there is the need for attitudinal change among the
citizenry towards waste management and disposal.

GNA

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