Community engagement precedes Kpone Landfill decommissioning
Ahead of the planned decommissioning of the Kpone Landfill site, the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) has begun engaging with residents of Kpone in the Kpone Katamanso District in the Greater Accra Region.
The engagement follows the appointment of a consultant by the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources to supervise the decommissioning processes of the old site and re-engineer the new site acquired for waste disposal.
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The Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Felix Anang-La, informed the Daily Graphic in Tema that officials of the assembly were in talks with the consultant on how the exercise was going to be carried out in order not to compromise the environment, health and safety of the community.
“Leachate (contaminated water) wells and a landfill gas collection system will be installed to collect and burn landfill gases to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and assist in controlling odour,” he said.
Agitations
Residents of Kpone have been agitating over the landfill site in the community which, even though overflowing, is still serving as a dumping ground for both faecal matter and solid waste.
They want the site decommissioned to protect the health of the people in the community.
Leachate from the dumpsite continues to leak into some drains and water bodies in the community, a situation which the residents say has worsened as a result of the recent rains.
Residents
The Secretary to the Kpone Organised Youth for Development Association, Nii Tettey Bley, told the Daily Graphic that in spite of the huge revenue that accrued from industries sited in the district, the community was still at a disadvantage in terms of healthcare delivery.
According to him, the TMA’s engagement with the community began on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, saying that “for now our expectations are that the decommissioning exercise will begin soon, since the rains are worsening the deterioration of the environment and exacerbating the foul stench that constantly fills the atmosphere”.
“Drains in the community have become receptacles for contaminated water from industries in the area that do not have adequate systems to contain their sewage,” he added.