TMA to compensate 394 scavengers to start waste management project

Kpone, Jan. 20, GNA - The Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) is to compensate and re-settle some 394 people engaged in

stone quarrying at the Kpone landfill site. The compensation and resettlement package was part of conditions from the World Bank for the funding of the construction of a

GH¢5.5 billion solid waste disposal facility to be constructed at the Kpone landfill site. The 18-month project would have a treatment plant, access road, drainage, weigh bridges, and gas collection facility among

other projects. Mrs Alice Addai-Yeboah, officer of the Project Coordinating Unit (PCU) announced this on Tuesday at a forum at Kpone. Mrs Addai-Yeboah said, the re-settlement package is a mitigating measure to ensure that those, who would be directly affected by the project, were compensated for losing their employment and income. She said after several meetings and deliberations with the TMA, the Stone Quarriers Association and other stakeholders agreed

on a cash allowance of GH¢401.55 per leader, which would be paid to the scavengers. She added that portions of the site would also be allocated to them as resettlement assistance stating, however, that they would

be required to sign an agreement to ensure the return of the land when needed. Mr Kwaku Akportorsu, TMA Coordinating Director stated that the Assembly would pay the compensation before the

commencement of the project in February next month by which time the necessary paper work would have been finalized. He said the project was important to the Metropolis because it would ensure proper waste management and disposal as well as

minimize health risks associated with the current landfill site. At the forum, some members of the Kpone Traditional Council (KTC) and youth group representatives also called for

compensation to be given to land owners and residents. They indicated that they needed to benefit especially from the project for giving out the land, adding that compensations should

not only be given to the stone quarriers They suggested that stakeholders of the project especially the TMA must educate the residents of Kpone on the construction

before its commencement to ensure its smooth take off.