Waste treatment plant commissioned in Western Region
The Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, has called for deliberate policies to protect and promote Ghanaian entrepreneurs to spur the country's growth and development.
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At the commissioning of phase one of the Sekondi-Takoradi Integrated Waste Treatment Plant in the Western Region, he said, Ghanaian businessmen were willing and capable of helping to build and transform the country, while creating sustainable jobs.
The missing link to achieving that, however, was the lack of encouragement to push Ghanaian businessmen to the next level to capitalise on the development deficits and proffer solutions to enhance growth.
“When we give opportunities and sometimes they go wrong, we need to muster the courage and correct that Ghanaian businessman for his or her wrongs, for the Ghanaian entrepreneur is capable and willing but needs encouragement.”
Designed capacity
The current facility replaces the unstructured disposal of waste at Sofokrom, near Essipon, which currently poses a serious threat to nearby settlements and easily accessible to domestic animals and birds.
The waste treatment plant has the capacity of 1,000 cubic metres per day ((m3/day) or an average of 100 truck loads of refuse a day.
Dr Agyepong said the dream to set up Zoomlion years ago was to lead the solution to waste management challenges in the country and beyond, where refuse would no longer be considered as waste but the solution and raw material for the next production line.
Dr Agyepong said the project was inspired by the government’s vision of making the country the neatest in Africa, and that aside from the installed capacity, the facility would provide about 400 direct jobs and more than 1,000 indirectly.
Pureco KFT-Hungary is a Hungarian company that designed the plant and manufactured the machinery.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ballint Horvath, commended the stakeholders for their contribution to the project, which he said, met high international standards and safety protocols.
Ghana, Hungary
The State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, Tristan Azbej, said the completion of the project was a remarkable milestone for the partnership between Ghana and Hungary.
The Western Regional Minister, Mr Kwabena Darko-Mensah, for his part, said the completion of phase one of the project would greatly ensure more acceptable treatment of waste in the region.
He said currently only 10 per cent of the faecal waste in the region was treated.