Ace waste management conglomerate Zoomlion Group of Companies has held a business cocktail for its newly established Institute of Sanitation and Waste Management in Accra.

The Institute which opens in 2013 would be run in partnership with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

The business cocktail, which was to recognise Zoomlion’s contributions to the waste management industry and also to thank Government and stakeholders for the good will and support given to Zoomlion since its establishment, was well attended by Ambassadors, Diplomats, government officials, Environmental Service Providers Association and experts from the waste management industry.

In his welcome address, the Executive Chairman of the Zoomlion Group of Companies, Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, said efficient waste management was of critical concern to environmental activists, political leaders and business men in the African Continent, hence the rapid response by the Zoomlion Group to tackle these inevitable challenges facing the sub region.

He added that the establishment of the Waste Management Institute was borne out of the reality that there was the need to build the capacity of Ghanaians and waste management practitioners in other African countries and also bridge the technological gap by training the man power needs of the people.

He thus used the opportunity to call for assistance and collaboration from stakeholders in the industry and the government in the areas of technology transfer, linkage to institutions of higher learning, business to business relations, exchange programmes, funds to support research and link to research institutions and the development of the Zoom Kids Clubs concept to an international level.

The Deputy Minister of Finance, Fifi Kwettey, reiterated the fact that it was time for the nation to deal with the sanitation issues which called for innovation, capacity building and the search for people with technological know-how to surmount the environmental problems. He commended the Zoomlion Group of Companies and encouraged the setting up of more sanitation institutes to win the war on the waste menace and also to provide more opportunities to the people of Ghana.

The Chief Director of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Nana Oduro Kwarteng, urged Zoomlion to continue with the good work and pledged the backing of his ministry in every initiative taken by the company to rid the nation of filth.

The Director of the Institute, Dr. Patrick Cline, said the Institute would be a repository of knowledge for the waste management sector in Africa.