Sanitising sanitation in Kumasi - Mayor thinks big
While in Kumasi last Saturday, I had a lengthy chat with the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Osei Assibey Antwi, on sanitation in the metropolis.
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A thoroughbred Kumasi man who served as the Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister in the Kufuor administration, Mr Antwi is not oblivious of the enormity of the task ahead as he moves to steer the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to change the situation for the better.
He has some lofty plans under his sleeves to turn things round having already hit the ground running with the assembly initiating and implementing some projects and programmes on waste management and sanitation.
Budget
Waste management takes a good chunk of the budget of the KMA, yet, over the years, managing waste and sanitation in Kumasi has become a huge and arduous task for city authorities.
The attitude and conduct of the people have compounded the problem.
Population growth without the corresponding technology to manage solid waste that is generated has equally contributed to cutting back the once enviable image of Kumasi.
Besides, congestion, especially in the Central Business District (CBD), has worked against efforts by authorities to clean the city.
Kumasi generates an average of 1,500 tonnes of solid waste daily but 1,200 tonnes is evacuated to landfill sites. The remaining 300 tonnes is what is found in gutters,container sites and other places.
In spite of the difficulties, the mayor has vowed to make Kumasi cleaner and bring it back to its glorious days.
One of the immediate steps he took just after taking office was to ensure that the heaps of garbage at the various container sites were cleared. The sites include Asafo Zion, Collegiate Asafo, Buokrom Pentecost, Aboabo, Kaase/Asokwa, Asokwa Interchange, Daaban, Emena, Appeadu, Duase and Ohwim.
In less than two months after the swearing-in of the MCE, the KMA now has the full complements of its structures at all levels as the sub-metros and district councils had been inaugurated, more than two years after the unit committee elections were held. What it means is that the KMA has the structures in place to superintendent over the administration of its activities, including waste management.
Kumasi Development Agenda
Currently operating is a programme known as the Kumasi Development Agenda which looks at the holistic approach to Kumasi’s development. Embodied in the programme is the Sustainable City Cleaning Campaign.
Mr Antwi wants the cleaning of the metropolis to be a permanent feature on the minds of the people.
In line with that, a sanitation ad-hoc committee has been constituted to advise and make recommendations towards achieving the set goals. An action plan which does not only include sanitation but also beautification has been developed and is expected to be launched soon.
To ensure that this initiative achieves the expected results, trading in unauthorised places in the city centre must cease, since congestion hinders effective cleaning.
Consequently, the MCE says the Race Course terminal is to be put in good shape so that the traders will move there. Reconstruction of satellite markets at Old Tafo, Asawase and Atonsu is also being fast-tracked as part of moves to stop selling in unauthorised places.
However, the Mayor said movement of the traders from the city centre will be given a human face so that they were not unduly affected.
Night cleaning
In September 2013, the KMA introduced the night refuse-cleaning exercise to help rid the CBD of filth. The exercise was also to address the nuisance associated with refuse collection during the day.
The assembly is taking the programme a notch higher. The MCE has personally gone round to witness how the cleaning goes on at night and said it would be extended to other places.
The mayor said the assembly would beef up the number of sanitary workers for the expansion of the night cleaning programme.
Recognising that education is key in the sanitation drive, the assembly is embarking on continuous sensitisation to engender behaviour change among the residents.
Household toilets
Already, the Mayor has proposed to the assembly the construction of prototype toilet facilities in the sub-metros which are user and environmentally friendly.
He wants to ensure that by 2018, as many households as possible would have been encouraged to have household toilets.
Technologies
Waste management is a holistic process and the need for the deployment of state-of-the-art technologies would be acquired to manage the waste within its entire value chain.
Mr Antwi said he would ensure that the assembly added value to the waste generated by converting it into energy and manure.
On his table currently are a lot of proposals from private companies which are being considered and expectations are that soon, the waste which has been a nuisance would become raw materials.
The challenges at the septage treatment plants at Oti called for the adoption of technologies that would treat the solid waste.
In that respect, the mayor said the assembly would collaborate with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to bring the dream to reality.
The assembly had also set up a team to review the existing waste management contracts to give meaning to compliance and quality."We need a quantum leap in terms of efficiency," the mayor said.
One other area where the mayor is looking at is collaboration with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to design home-made waste management technologies that will suit the local needs of metropolis.
He accepted the fact that the task was arduous but with the support of the Asantehene, the regional minister and the people of Kumasi, Kumasi will soon return to its glorious days.