The President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E Nana Addo on Tuesday, 8th June 2021, unveiled one hundred and one (101) waste management trucks and twenty-five (25) disinfection trucks attained solely by Zoomlion Ghana Limited. These are the first group of five hundred (500) trucks that are being secured to assist in the sanitation sector in the country, Nationwide.
Due to this, (sanitation situation) the country is confronted with high risk basic sanitation behaviors including open defecation. As at 2015, 8% of urban dwellers practiced open defecation in Ghana, same figure as in 2000. There are also limited affordable sanitation and waste treatment technology options for urban communities.
These trucks that have been provided by the management of Zoomlion are going to be used to cart waste from hotspot areas and communities which indulge in such a filthy act, our business districts and communities to landfill sites and waste treatment facilities, and help in the ongoing disinfection exercises of spaces and institutions that have been rolled out since the onset of COVID-19 in the country.
According to President Akuffo-Addo, “currently, in total, we generate some seven million, five hundred and seventeen thousand, five hundred and forty (7,517,540) metric tones of waste. This situation, you would agree, presents enormous investment opportunities, for which the private sector can take advantage”.
The President is much concerned about our health and well being in the country. This perennial sanitation situation has been on our backs for a very long time, it is high time we do something effective about it. And I strongly feel and believe this great step by the management of Zoomlion with the President will go a long way to improve the country, and make it one of the cleanest countries in West Africa.
Andy Oppong Dankyi 