According to him, although the company has the capacity to collect all waste generated within the metropolis each day for safe disposal subsequently, operators of the waste tricycles, popularly known as “borla taxis” fail to patronize their facility.

[contextly_sidebar id=”aSa7XmGGxPNN9XxQ1h1v7RHLD1HWLG7p”]Accra has, in recent years, seen a growing trend of unguarded waste disposal, resulting in major streets being turned into dump sites and presenting health challenges to motorists, pedestrians and some traders who sell close to these sites.

Some have blamed the “borla taxis” for the situation alleging that the operators often collect the waste from private homes and dump them on the streets under the cover of darkness.

Some listeners of the Citi Breakfast Show said the development was rampant on the Tema Motorway where the “borla taxis” are often seen trying to commute to Kpone to dump the waste there directly.

They, however, dispose of the waste along the road when they experience breakdowns.

According to Mr. Haruna, such action by the “borla taxis” is among the major challenges facing sanitation in the country.

Reacting to claims that the “borla taxi” operators preferred to dump waste directly at the Kpone disposal site due to the cost implications involved in dumping the waste at the ZoomPak transfer station, he said the tricycle operators equally paid fees at the Kpone site, hence his surprise at why they would prefereto travel over 21 kilometers, given the other risks involved in such a trip.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, Sulley Haruna said although the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) had pushed some of the tricycle operators to patronize the services of the transfer station, some remain adamant and continue to dump waste indiscriminately, especially late night.

“About 6 months ago, I think indiscriminate dumping was stopped by AMA in Accra because there were places they could go just go and dump in the city and get away with it, but the city authorities decided to stop discriminate dumping and this pushed most of the tricycles to the transfer stations. So some of them still have the habit of trying to use the Motorway and drive all the way to the Kpone site,” he said

He added that management of ZoomPak was engaging the leadership of the waste tricycle operators to ensure they dispose of waste collected from homes at the transfer site where an ultramodern facility is in place to safely transfer the waste to designated landfill sites or the Accra Compost & Recycling Plant for sorting and processing to be done.

ZoomPak Ghana Limited has two transfer stations at Achimota and Teshie where hundreds of trucks and tricycles dispose of waste.

This saves commuters and residents from the inconvenience of the pungent smells that accompany the piles of waste when they are dumped in the middle of the road or by their houses.

ZoomPak, is a subsidiary company of waste management giant, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, and has the capacity of absorbing about 200,000 tonnes of waste every day.

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By: Farida Yusif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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