Parliamentary Select Committee inspects projects

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, has abhorred the traditional system of faecal waste disposal into the sea at Korle Gonno popularly known as �Lavender Hill�. Simon Edem Asimah assured of the Committee�s support in the establishment of a modern sewage treatment system in Accra. A statement signed by Ms Patricia Ofori Atta, Communications Officer of Zoomlion Ghana Limited and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday, said Mr Asimah made the observations during a tour of some waste management facilities in Accra by the Committee. The tour afforded members of the Committee to inspect sanitation projects being undertaken within the greater Accra Region. Mr Asiamah said: �The traditional system is appalling and we are pleased that the construction of mudor faecal treatment plant which would eliminate the traditional method of dumping faecal waste into the Atlantic Ocean would be completed within a period of one year.� He noted that the Mudor Faecal treatment plant is a good and laudable project and deserves the support of all in overcoming the challenges inhibiting its progress including the alarming number of squatters in the area. The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) in collaboration with Sewage Systems Ghana limited through a public private partnership has put up a system in the faecal sludge, which is dislodged into a holding tank and then with the use of polymer the sewage is de-watered. Sewage Systems Ghana limited would put up a faecal treatment plant of 2000m3/d, which would treat and dry faecal sludge and discharge the effluent into the sea. Mr Daniel Kabe, Project Manager of Sewage Systems Ghana limited, the project would help build an efficient and technologically tested faecal and sewerage treatment plant to serve the whole of central Accra. This is contrary to recent reports that the AMA is to shut down the Lavender Hill this month. Mr Kabe said the project had been delayed because of the existence of squatters around the site making it difficult to inaugurate it. �We are ready to start working. The contractors are already in the country and everything is set but our main problem is the squatters around the site. They are delaying the work,� he said. He was not certain of the amount involved in the project but was firm to say that it would be completed within a year. Leading the committee members on a tour at the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant, a subsidiary of the Zoomlion Group, the Managing Director, Mr Owura K. Sarfo said some of the challenges currently faced by the company is the delay in the payment of management fees. This, he said, pose a threat to working capital and loan payments, which are critical to business.