A Legal Practitioner, Dr. Yaw Oppong says waste management companies in the country should be sued for their refusal to do their work.
Ghana’s capital city, Accra has been engulfed in filth for over a month following the refusal of waste management companies to collect refuse.
The companies say, their decision has become necessary due to the lack of landfill sites in the country and government’s refusal to pay for work already done.
Residents in Accra earlier called on the Accra Metropolitan Assembly(AMA) to address the problem.
But the Mayor of Accra, Okoe Vanderpuijie in interview on Citi FM said residents will have to suffer poor waste management problems until new landfills are built.
Speaking on Citi FM’s News Analysis Programme, The Big Issue, Mr. Oppong criticised the companies and insisted that the appropriate legal action be taken against them.
“ In my view I will rather suggest that we as citizens should sue the[Waste Management] companies that have engaged in a contract with us.
“If anybody had gone to court to compel them to fulfill their own covenant and huge damages are awarded them, they will learn sense …. If you take about 10 million dollars from them, do you think they will give these little excuses?,”Mr. Oppong asked.
Speaking on the same platform, Lecturer at the Ashesi University, Dr. Lloyd Amoah said Ghana’s waste management problems pose a threat to the lives of Ghanaians.
“ There is a direct impact on us regarding this garbage problem and the least we can do is to show publicly as educated people who are concerned and pay taxes that we are not happy with what is going on,”Dr. Amoah added.
In that regard, Dr. Amoah emphasized the need for citizens to become active in getting government to address the problem.
By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana