The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) in collaboration with the Ayawaso West Wuogon Municipal Assembly has evacuated three dumping sites in the municipality to improve sanitation.

The nationwide evacuation exercise on dumping sites is in line with the ongoing Government's Clean Ghana Agenda aimed at resolving sanitation challenges in the country.

The three areas are La Bawaleshie near the Bawaleshie School, Okponglo, and Mepeasem dumping sites.

The implementing partner of the project, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, one of the leading waste management giants in the country expressed their preparedness and readiness towards the exercise by deploying trucks and technical expertise, to convey the rubbish to its final dumping site at Nsawam.

Speaking during the exercise on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, the Municipal Environmental Health Officer (MEHO), Mr. Sani Mutala, thanked the ministry for embarking on the exercise adding that the evacuation will ensure that rubbish will not serve as a hindrance to cause flood in the area.

Mr. Sani said these dumping sites are over 10 years old adding that their evacuation is going to serve as a relief for students and residents living in these areas.

He pleaded with Zoomlion to increase the number of dustbin containers in each site to three to ensure that at all material times, there is a container for people to dump their waste to discourage residents from littering.

The MEHO said immediately after evacuation, “We will deploy the environmental health officers to the community to educate them on the consequences and the need to stop dumping rubbish on the ground.”

“We are looking at ways to fence the whole area and provide one entrance where security would be stationed to man the place and also mount signage warning people from littering the environment.

Mr. Sani challenged Ghanaians to change their attitude towards the environment because mostly, “we are ignorant about our actions or we deliberately do so. Assuming it's raining and you deliberately dump rubbish in the rain, where do you expect it to go? It will block h drain and cause flood and the same people will turn around and blame the government of the day.”

“We cannot blame the government when we ourselves are not responsible to the environment. Go to people’s houses, the water that they bathe cannot flow through, it becomes stagnant and breeds mosquitos,” he stated.

“I encourage each and everyone to clean their immediate environment and homes to at least the middle of the road to complement the ongoing campaign (Operation Clean Your Frontage).

On his part, the Assemblyman for the Okponglo Electoral Area, Ishmael A. Djani, was excited about the Assembly’s decision to evacuate the waste in the area which he said has led to the outbreak of malaria and other diseases.

“Finally, our cry has been heard by the authorities, we are grateful to the Ministry, the Assembly, and Zoomlion for their timely support to clear all the waste from our society,” he expressed.

Officials of Zoomlion thanked stakeholders for their cooperation in the successful refuse evacuation exercise.