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 President Mahama unveiling the plaque to inaugurate the treatment plant. Those with him are Nii Adama Latse (2nd left) Ga Mantse, and Obrempong Kojo Ababio, the James Town Mantse.
President Mahama unveiling the plaque to inaugurate the treatment plant. Those with him are Nii Adama Latse (2nd left) Ga Mantse, and Obrempong Kojo Ababio, the James Town Mantse.

Faecal treatment plant inaugurated. A collaboration between Zoomlion and AMA

On the terse statement, "Never will we return to the old ways again," President John Dramani Mahama yesterday inaugurated the $80-million ‘Lavender Hill’ Faecal and Mudor Waste Water Treatment Plant as Accra said goodbye to the city's despicable sight of dumping untreated faecal matter into the sea.

For over a century the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) had disposed liquid waste directly into the Atlantic Ocean at an infamous location at Korle Gonno known as ‘Lavender Hill’.

The dumping of untreated human excreta into the sea by the AMA had never been a good advertisement for the capital.

That explained why the ceremony to close down Lavender Hill was met with excitement by many people, especially residents of James Town and surrounding areas who had to endure the offensive odour that emanated from the site.

"We are putting the past permanently behind us and never to return to it again," the President told the excited crowd, including chiefs.

About the plant

The Lavender Hill Faecal and Mudor Waste Water Treatment Plant is a public-private initiative between the AMA and Sewage Systems Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of the Jospong Group.

The plant, which has a lifespan of more than 20 years, has the capacity to treat 2,000 cubic metres of liquid waste from about 200 cesspit empties daily.

It has a well-equipped laboratory, a 5,500 cubic metre tank, a machine for odour control, among other facilities.

There is a process to use biogas to generate 1kW of electricity from the operation of the facility to power the plant.

A scar on nation

"Today, we are ending an ugly spectacle. Today is a particularly happy day for me because Lavender Hill is going to be closed today," the President  said.

President Mahama admitted that Lavender Hill had been a scar on  the nation, adding that it devalued the nation and tagged it as one of the world’s dirtiest.

"I always felt a sense of shame when these issues were raised by our international partners or even tourists who visit our country," he said of the emptying of faecal matter into the sea.

He stated that although his government had undertaken many projects, if there was one project that he felt very proud of, "it is what we have been able to achieve today to close down ‘Lavender Hill".

President Mahama, at a point in his address, waxed spiritual and suggested that the dumping of human waste into the sea must have offended God and the ocean.

"Indeed, we must apologise to the ocean; we must apologise to God for more than a century of pollution that we have poured into the ocean," he said.

 The new Lavender Hill Faecal Treatment Plant. Pictures: EBOW HANSON

Legal challenge

The President recalled how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had sued the AMA on several occasions over the existence of the ‘Lavender Hill’ and said he was happy that all now belonged to history.

He said the aim of the government was to replicate the project in other parts of the country, especially the regional capitals, as well as district capitals with big populations.

President Mahama stated that in the manifesto of the National Democratic Congress, there was a promise to end open defecation by 2021 and added that already the government was working towards that.

He said although the government had the responsibility to provide sanitation facilities, it would continue to count on the private sector to partner it to achieve that objective.

It was on that score that he commended Zoomlion Ghana for the interventions it continued to make in managing waste.

The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Alhaji Collins Dauda, explained some of the measures the ministry had taken to end open defecation in Accra, including supporting the construction of household toilets.

The Managing Director of Sewage Systems Ghana Limited, Mr Said Haider, said the benefits to be derived from the project were enormous.

"All this can be traced to one man who believes Accra must be clean. This man is Dr Siaw Agyapong," he said.

Dr Agyapong, who is the Chairman of the Jospong Group, was present at the ceremony.

The Gbese Mantse, Nii Ayibonte II, who spoke on behalf of Ga chiefs, commended the President for his foresight and said from the progress Accra had enjoyed under President Mahama's administration, he would expect the people of Accra to support him in his quest to retain power during the December 7 polls.

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