HORESD project: Implementation groups inaugurated

The Territorial Management Group and the Technical Working Group, an essential component for the implementation of the €2.5 million European Union (EU) Holistic Reinforcement for Sustainable Development (HORESD), have been inaugurated in Kumasi.

The two groups would spearhead the project to be implemented over 30 months to beef up efforts of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to keep the city clean and green.

Composition

The composition of the 25-member Technical Working Group comprises persons from all spectrums of departments, including Planning, Waste Management, Environmental Health,  Physical Planning, Urban Roads, Finance, Administration, Procurement, Education, Urban Transport,  Social Welfare, Community Development and the media, as well as non-governmental (NGOs) and Civil Society Organisations.

The Territorial Management Group comprises 21 members and entities, including representatives from Manhyia Palace, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi Technical University (KsTU), Ghana Police Service, Ghana Armed Forces, Environmental Protection  Agency, and Christian Council of Churches.

The rest are the Shop Owners Association, Adum Hawkers Association, Ghana Private Road Transport Union, Judicial Services and the business community which have the capacity to effect the needed paradigm shift as far as waste management of the Kumasi Metropolis was concerned.

HORESD

The project aims at building and strengthening the capacity of the Assembly and its citizens to collectively practice sound environmental activities that ensure reducing, re-using, recycling, and recovering waste generated in the city.

Thus, it seeks to change the perception of the citizenry to see waste as material in transition that can be harnessed to create gainful jobs for the teeming unemployed youth and sustained income for households.

Overview

Joshua Nii Noye Tetteh-Nortey, the Local Project Coordinator, giving a rundown of the project commended the EU for the enormous interventions towards the successful implementation of the project.

Among which, he said were the donation of seven compact trucks to manage waste under the project, as well as 800 containers for house-to-house waste collection.

“We have also received 1,000 litter bins for the collection of dry and wet waste, to be piloted at the Adum Central Business District”, he emphasized, and that once successful it would be scaled up in Greater Kumasi.

Also present at the inaugural ceremony were Samuel Pyne, the Metropolitan Chief Executive of Kumasi, and Dr. Helder B.C.J. Moreira, the International Co-ordinator of the project, who all expressed satisfaction about the progress made so far on the implementation of the project.

On his part, the Asafohene, Akyamfour Asafo Boakye Agyemang-Bonsu, tasked the Territorial Management and the Technical Working Groups to help provide a database on waste management, which would aid the Assembly to strengthen its modalities to effectively manage waste in the metropolis.