A Performance report intercepted by Citi News has revealed that most waste companies within the Accra metropolis scored low marks in a recent evaluation exercise carried out by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).
Most of the companies failed to abide by the terms and conditions of their contract with the AMA, which lead to Accra’s increasing sanitation problem hence scoring low marks in the exercise.
The companies include, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Asadu Royal waste Company, Liberty waste Company, Yafuru Waste Company, Platinum Waste solution, Aryeetey Brothers Co Ltd, Jekora Ventures, J. Stanley Owusu & Co Ltd, and Meskworld Limited.
[contextly_sidebar id=”GxHNWkx9ZTYTjTXheSxZnwBEpNbxjMhx”]The Director of Waste of the AMA, Mr. Samuel Kpodo in confirming the report on Citi Fm’s Eye Witness News disclosed that the waste companies scored such marks because of lack of landfill sites which the AMA failed to provide for them.
According to him, the AMA had a role to play in the contract which include providing dumping sites for the waste contractors.
He said the AMA did not deliver on its mandate which resulted in most of the refuse in the Metropolis not collected.
“The inability of the AMA also to get them dumping sites to regularly dump the waste was a big factor in the performance report. And for that matter, despite the fact that they have performed poorly we still need to also support them by giving them a final disposal site to work,” he stated.
He disclosed that the evaluation of the companies was a measure put in place by the AMA to enable the companies step up their efforts.
“So this evaluation is an eye opener to them so that they can improve their services in the near future. Before June this year, we had this serious problem until in August that we organized clean-up exercises and we have been able to evacuate all the heap of refuses that we identified. So that was their true performance before August this year and I think in the next evaluation we are going to see the actual performance once again,” he said.
Despite all these challenges Asadu Royal Waste Company scored the highest mark of 81.33.
Mr. Kpodo explained that despite the abysmal performance by some of the waste management companies, they cannot entirely be blamed for Accra’s sanitation problems.
“We know that these contractors are working under some difficulties. They seem not to be breaking even; customers do not pay the right amount and as a result the waste contractors find it very difficult to buy fuel to even power their vehicles,” he stated.
He said that if people paid the right fees, then the contractors would efficiently do their work.
He, however debunked allegations that the huge refuse deficit on the streets was the cause of the cholera outbreak that has plagued the Region.
The cholera outbreak has affected over 10, 000 individuals and 92 deaths have so far been recorded.
Meanwhile, speaking on the same programme, Edward Asadu, Managing Director of Asadu Royal Waste Company said he chalked the success because of his passion for the work.
“We all have the same problem but it takes certain skills and passion for the work,” he stated.
Reports revealed that the AMA owe the waste companies up to the tune of GHC2.2 million of which only GHC600,000 have been paid.
In its bid to improve on the sanitary condition in the metropolis however, the AMA has distributed over one million waste bins to households in Accra.
Click below to listen to the full report
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By: Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/citifmonline.com/Ghana