Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government and Rural Development has called for increased technology in waste management.
Chairman of the committee, Dominic Azumah, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Garu, explained that limited technology is limiting waste management efforts in the country.
He made this observation when members of the committee paid a familiarisation visit to the Kumasi Compost and Recycling Plant.
The first phase of the Kumasi Compost and Recycling Plant which is located at Adagya in the Bosomtwe area is 70 per cent complete.
When completed, the plant will process 600 tonnes of waste every eight hours.
It will process waste in the Kumasi metropolis and its surrounding areas.
The second phase, involving the recycling of faecal matter, biomedical waste, medical waste and e-waste, would commence immediately the first phase is completed.
The project, which started in 2013, is an initiative of the Jospong Group of Companies and the first phase is expected to come on stream by the end of this year.
According to the chairman of the parliamentary select committee on local government and rural development, landfill sites were no longer sustainable, making the need for compost and recycling plants now very critical.
He explained that though government continues to invest in sanitation and waste management, limited technology was making it difficult to achieve the desired results.
He commended Zoomlion for introducing recycling plants, one in Accra and now in Kumasi.
The MP also charged government live up to its responsibility by paying arranged fees on time to sustain the plant.
He indicated that more of such public private partnerships were essential to achieving proper waste management in the country.
Project Manager of the facility, Mr. Atta Kobla Mawutor, explained that the facility (the plant) will help reduce by over 70% the volume of waste that goes to the landfill sites.
He said the project would also have a landfill site where waste that could not be treated would be disposed of.
This would help the Kumasi metropolis and the surrounding districts to properly manage their waste and prolong the lifespan of existing landfill sites, he added.
Explaining the production process, Mr. Mawutor said loaded vehicles would first stop at the weighing points where their weights would be taken.
The vehicles will then move to the sorting points where the waste in its raw form will be sorted out to take out metals and the other materials categorised.
The organic materials will be moved to the compositing plant, where, under controlled moisture and temperature, would be turned into compost.
“After the materials had been turned into compost, they would be moved to the screening plant where they would be bagged for sale,” he added.
The MPs also visited the former Kumasi Jute Factory which is being revamped by Jute Mills Ghana Ltd., a subsidiary of the Zoomlion group.
Project Manager, Frank Appiagyei Fosuhene, explained that the rehabilitation of the structures are progressing. He added that the main factory block will be completed by close of February 2016.
Mr. Fosuhene mentioned that the over 20-million dollar project upon completion will employ in excess of 3000 workers running three shifts per day.
He was optimistic that the factory would be operational by June this year to produce jute sacks for the bagging of cocoa beans.
Ranking member of the local government committee Kwesi Ameyaw Kyeremeh noted that revamping the defunct Kumasi jute factory would help reduce the unemployment situation in the country.
He assures of the committee’s support and commended management of Jute Mills for the progress made on the project.
The defunct state enterprise when fully operational would reduce Ghana’s importation of Jute sacs and provide financial solace for Kenaf farmers in the Afram plains as well as employment for the youth.
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