Accra, June 16, GNA - The famous Teshie Compost Plant Site, will soon be converted into a recreational ground for the community due to the malfunctioning of the plant for sometime now and evacuation of the piled refuse.

The plant, which was established in the early 1970's to change refuse into manure broke down 20 years ago but the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) had difficulty in securing the appropriate spare parts to repair it.

Evacuation of the refuse was necessitated by the outcry of the community due to the numerous health related problems emanating from leakage and the strong stench from the site. The exercise, which will take two weeks, is a result of a combined effort of the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, AMA and Ledzekuku Municipal Assembly.

Briefing the media at the site in Accra on Tuesday, Mr Peter Kwei Dargadu, Head of the Land Fill said the evacuation had been contracted to the management of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a private waste management organization and would be dumped at Oblogo Land Fill site. He explained that people from Osu, La and Teshie Township were dumping their refuse at the site resulting in the 'mountainous refuse', adding, "Because there is no other place for them to dump their refuse we could not stop them until now that we cannot take any more." Mr Joseph Awuye, Plant Manager said it was unfortunate the plant could not be rehabilitated to produce manure for agricultural purposes and commended Government for the bold decision taken since the refuse was a source of mosquito breeding ground resulting in high rate of malaria and typhoid cases in the vicinity.

Mr Daniel Amartey Mensah, Teshie Municipal Executive expressed appreciation to Government for embarking on the evacuation exercise and said it was one of the biggest challenges of the assembly. "Clearing this heap of refuse will pave the way for other developments to take place for the benefit of the people and in fulfillment of the promise made to the people of Ghana by the NDC Government that, we will ensure a clean Ghana and a healthy people," he added.