By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
Some members of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC), last week paid a working visit to some sites of the Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant being put up by Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies, in collaboration with the government of Ghana.
The establishment of the facilities is in line with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s pledge in his 2021 State of the Nation Address to comprehensively deal with the waste menace in the country.
Over the years, Ghana has been struggling to manage both solid and liquid waste, but for the coming into operation of Accra Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant (IRECOP) the sanitation in the capital has seen vast improvement.
The PPC member’s first point of call was at the Ho IRECOP, located in Akrofu-Agorve in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region is one of the 16 waste recycling plants being constructed in Ghana to manage the country’s waste effectively.
According to Contractors working on the project, the Ho IRECOP, which is at 85% completion stage, is expected to provide more than 600 jobs for people in and around the region after its completion.
The facility, upon completion in December 2022, would receive and recycle both solid and liquid waste from Ho and its environs and also generate compost.
The company, when operationalised, is expected to recycle over 800 tons of waste per day.
The facility will recycle and process organic components of waste, which is about 50 to 60 per cent, into compost material, serving as fertilisers for farmers.
Recyclables, such as plastics, papers and metals, will be retrieved and converted into usable products.
Head of Medical Waste at the facility in Ho, Mr. Senam Tengey, briefing Journalists said
the IRECOP project sites in the country, explained that the facility is expected to give 100 people direct employment and at least 500 indirect jobs.
He added that to ensure that the facility’s operation did not affect the residents, the site was located on the outskirts of Ho Township.
Mr. Tengey was confident that with the coming into being of the new facility, sanitation management in Ho and its adjourning Communities would be improved.
“We have a very good facility here that is going to benefit the whole nation because the days of “Garbage Mountains” scattered across the region will be a thing of the past” he reiterated.
Meanwhile, a medical waste treatment facility being constructed by the company some 100 meters from the IRECOP is also 85 per cent complete.
“When completed, this facility would be the treatment place of medical wastes from all health care facilities in the region. With this, we are hopeful that the rate of infection from contaminated medical waste materials in the region would reduce,” he noted.
Dambia IRECOP
The Dambia Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant (IRECOP), in the Oti region was the second site the Corps visited.
According to the owners, the facility at Dambia is hundred percent completed waiting for official commissioning.
The Dambia IRECOP can process 200 tons of waste a day and will create about 150 direct and indirect jobs for the people of Oti region.
Tamale IRECOP
At the Tamale IRECOP site located at Sagnarigu in the Northern Region, work was progressing steadily. Even though the equipment for recycling solid waste has not been installed, workers are feverishly preparing the place for the installation of the machines.
The Tamale facility also has separate medical waste and liquid waste units with
construction completed and awaiting the final installation of the equipment.
Zoomlion Northern Regional Manager, Mr. Peter Dawuni, who conducted the team around, said the facility is meant to process the solid waste generated in Tamale and its environs and can process 400 tons of waste daily.
“This facility will serve the Tamale Metropolis, Tolon, Kunbumgu, Sagnarigu and other surrounding MDAs. We will feed the inputs we receive from the Communities into the facility to process into compost, which will be useful for agricultural purposes in the country and other by-products.
We expect the civil works to be completed by the end of December, 2022. The plant will be brought in and installed within the first quarter of 2023, so it can be commissioned to begin operation,” he noted.
The Regional Waste Landfill Manager, Mr. Stephen Yarro, indicated the area already serves as the landfill site for the Tamale area and therefore needs to be completed on schedule.
According to him, recycling the trash before sending it to the landfill will protect the environment, while the compost will also boost the farming activity in the region.
Damongo IRECOP
The Damongo Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant Limited (IRECOP) located with the West Gonja Municipality in the Savannah Region, is set to operate immediately after electrical power is connected to the facility.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo commissioned the facility during his official working visit to Savannah Region earlier this year.
However, setbacks have delayed its operationalization. For one reason or another, the electrical Engineer according to the facility Managers failed to deliver on time for work to start.
The Zoomlion Zonal Manager for the Savannah Region, Mr. Salisu Abdul Mubarak, indicated that the failure of the Electrical Engineer to meet the deadline compelled management of the Jospong Group of Companies, the mother company, to terminate the contractual agreement with the Contractor and award it to another.
So far, the powerhouse has been constructed, poles have been mounted, and the power lines connected to the company premises and awaiting connection to the national grid.
The Zoomlion Zonal Manager for the Savannah Region, disclosed this to members of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) when the team toured the facility for an update on the progress of work.
Mr Salisu explained the equipment at the facility is a mobile unit and not as sophisticated as those located in the Northern or the Volta Regions, and it is ready to commence operation.
According to him, a successful test run has already been conducted, and the facility is ready to begin receiving refuse for recycling.
“The facility has been commissioned by the President and is ready to begin processing garbage but the delay by the Electrical Contractor to deliver on time has delayed the work. However, a new Contractor is working on that and completing all the basic work. We are now waiting for the Northern Electricity Department of the Volta River Authority to connect the facility to the national grid,” he stated.
A representative of Malpoma Limited, Mr. George Coomson, and Salisu Abdul Mubarak, as well as the West Gonja Municipal Manager for Zoomlion, Yusuf Abdulai, conducted the Press Corps around the facility.
He indicated the facility can process 200 tons of waste a day and will create about 150 direct and indirect jobs for the people of Damongo.
Goaso and Sunyani IRECOPs
Meanwhile, civil work and machine installations at the two Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant located at Goaso in the Ahafo region capital and Sunyani IRECOP located at Nwawasuwa in Bono region respectively are also progressing steadily.
Sunyani IRECOP, according to the Engineers, will process between 600 to 800 tonnage of waste per day as well as generating close to 600 direct and indirect jobs.
The Goaso IRECOP on the other hand has a processing capacity of 200 tons of waste a day and will create about 150 direct and indirect jobs for the people of Ahafo region.
The Journalists also toured the Kumasi Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant known as KCAP to have a first sight into the operations of the company after almost a year and some months into its existence.
KCAP’s operation in the Kumasi Metropolis is said to be a game changer when it comes to proper waste handling and management landfill sites.
