President John Dramani Mahama has directed the immediate operationalisation of six waste transfer stations managed by Zoomlion Ghana Limited to improve refuse evacuation and strengthen waste management across the Greater Accra Region following the recent floods.
The transfer stations, built about nine years ago, have remained unused despite growing waste management challenges. Their inactivity forced waste collectors to transport refuse over long distances instead of using nearby transfer points for temporary storage and onward evacuation.
Speaking during the national clean-up exercise at Alajo in Accra, President Mahama said the facilities would now become operational.
“Unfortunately, they were not put into operation. So, we have asked the contractor, Zoomlion, to open the transfer stations so that the tricycles and others can take the garbage to the transfer stations,” he said.
Six stations to speed up waste evacuation
The transfer stations are located at Achimota, Teshie, Kpone, Ashaiman, Pantang and Adipa.
They will serve as collection points where refuse can be compacted before being transported to final treatment and disposal facilities, including the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant (ACARP) and the Accra Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant (IRECOP).
The move is expected to prevent waste removed from drains and gutters from being left along roadsides, where heavy rains often wash it back into drainage channels.
Zoomlion deploys equipment and sanitation teams
To support the exercise, Zoomlion Ghana Limited deployed 150 haulage trucks, 30 compactors, road sweepers, more than 2,000 tricycle waste operators and over 1,000 operational staff.
The company also added 60 long-haul trailers on the second day of the clean-up campaign to boost waste evacuation.
In addition, more than 2,000 sanitation personnel, together with heavy-duty equipment and logistics, were deployed to support the two-day National General Clean-up Exercise in flood-affected communities.
President Mahama said the activation of the transfer stations would ensure refuse removed during the exercise is transported immediately instead of remaining in public spaces.
He added that tricycle operators and other waste collectors had been directed to deliver refuse to the nearest transfer station, where heavy-duty trucks would move it to approved disposal facilities.
Military to continue evacuation efforts
The President acknowledged the strong public response to the clean-up exercise but said the volume of waste generated by the floods made it impossible to complete the work within two days.
He announced that the Ghana Armed Forces and other state agencies would continue the evacuation exercise after the official campaign ends to ensure all collected refuse is transported to disposal sites.
President Mahama also urged residents who did not participate in the exercise to join future clean-up campaigns, stressing that environmental sanitation requires a collective national effort.
Zoomlion pledges continued support
Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies, Joseph Siaw Agyepong, welcomed the President’s directive and reaffirmed Zoomlion’s commitment to supporting government efforts to restore sanitation in flood-affected communities.
He explained that the second day of the exercise focused largely on evacuating the huge volumes of refuse removed from homes, drains and public spaces.
According to him, Zoomlion, working with the Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA), metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) and other stakeholders, expanded operations across all 29 MMDAs in the Greater Accra Region.
He said waste collected during the exercise would pass through the designated transfer stations before being transported to approved treatment and disposal facilities.
Mr. Agyepong also appealed to residents to adopt responsible waste disposal habits, noting that much of the refuse removed during the exercise had accumulated over several years.
The activation of the transfer stations formed part of the government’s two-day National General Clean-up Exercise, held under the theme “Our Actions, Our Future: Cleaning Ghana after the Floods.” The exercise followed floods that affected seven regions of the country and drew participation from senior government officials, traditional leaders, security agencies, local assemblies, volunteers and thousands of residents.
