AMA extends waste segregation to senior high schools
The waste segregation programme for public basic schools, which was launched by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) last year, has been extended to senior high schools (SHSs) in the metropolis.
Significant results recorded during the pilot study in the basic schools motivated the assembly to include the SHSs and intends to include the communities later.
The Chief Resilience Officer and Sustainability Adviser for AMA, Mr Desmond Chris Appiah, made this known to journalists when the assembly held a meeting with headmasters of the SHSs to present litter bins and discuss the issue of waste segregation with them.
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Pilot studies were also carried out at the St Mary’s Senior High School and Accra Girls’ Senior High School.
Project
With the aim of ensuring that waste generated in the metropolis is managed effectively, all 17 public SHSs within the jurisdiction of the assembly will receive litter bins.
Over 300 bins labelled plastic, paper, food and others will be distributed among the schools all aimed at reducing filth and inculcating in the students, the importance of having a clean environment.
“We really want to stop the norm of littering among the youth. If there are a lot of bins in our schools, students will not be littering but rather put waste straight into the bins,” he said.
Accra waste reduced
The Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Mr Mohammed Nii Adjei Sowah, said the initiative formed part of measures the assembly was undertaking in support of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s goal of making Accra the cleanest city in Africa.
He said the waste segregation programme in the schools was part of efforts to help instil in residents of the city, especially students, the habit of segregating their waste.
“We are aggressively working to promote waste segregation so that waste does not become a wasteful product, but a resource to service industries and for other purposes.
“We also believe that changing attitudes is the surest way to go since people continue to litter the streets of Accra with impunity and it is one of the reasons why we started with the decongestion exercise to gain access to improve sanitation conditions in the metropolis,” he explained.
Mr Sowah stated that although activities embarked upon had reduced refuse by 30 per cent, the assembly would not relent in its efforts to provide the necessary logistics while enforcing the laws on sanitation.
“I have observed that the enforcement wing of the AMA was not strong enough to combat the poor sanitation situation in the metropolis, therefore, we have activated public health officials known as the ‘Sama Sama’ and have resourced personnel to help in combating insanitary conditions in the city,” he stated.
Waste management companies
The chief executive, however, asked institutions and households to register with authorised waste management companies that have been outsourced by the assembly to collect waste within specified communities.
“Most unauthorised waste collectors often dump the refuse collected anywhere at midnight, and that is one of the major problems we are confronted with as an assembly,” he said.
He urged the heads of schools to support the initiative and to encourage their students to segregate their waste, assuring them of their continuous effort to provide them with what was needed to help achieve the President’s vision.
“Once we are able to succeed in the schools, it will be much easier to extend it to the communities. We, however, intend to reach out to the ministries and major companies before proceeding to the communities,” he explained.
For her part, the Metro Director of Education, Madam Margaret Frempong-Kore, commended the assembly for the initiative, and asked them to continue with the advocacy and efforts to make the city clean.
“I am glad that this programme was started in the schools, as it is said that when you start with a child, the future is very bright,” she said.
