About 48 Chinese nationals are also being relocated from the town to other areas of safety.

Citi News sources also say the Paramount Chief of the Wassa Amenfi Traditional Area, Tetrete Okuamoah Sekyim II, is meeting with the irate youth who are determined to revenge the death of Nana Boamah, 30, at his palace.

Police from the SWAT division in Takoradi as well as other units from Tarkwa and Asangragua, had to intervene last night when over thousand residents took to the streets to vandalize Chinese businesses and other properties.

Cause of riots

Eyewitnesses told Citi News that a plumber who was hired by some Chinese nationals for his services called in the deceased, Nana Boamah as a witness, after the Chinese refused to pay the Gh 150 he has charged.

During the confrontation, a gun brought out by one of the Chinese was seized by the duo. But a second gun was fired by the Chinese, killing the witness, Nana Boamah instantly.

The news of the death of Boamah, which had spread throughout the town, sparked series of attacks on Chinese nationals and their properties. Six cars were burnt, whilst other properties were also vandalized.

Initial reports had suggested that the Ghanaian was killed mistakenly by a stray bullet during an altercation between two Chinese nationals at a nearby casino, but it appears that story is inaccurate.

Situation is serious-police

“The situation is really serious because the Chinese are many and they live differently, so before you realize, there will be fire somewhere, so you rush there with your team. But before you could finish, there is another fire nearby.”

The Wassa Akropong District Crime Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Briamah, told Citi News in an interview on Friday.

“In all, about 14 cars belonging to the Chinese have been burnt. Hotels and Casinos operated by them have been vandalized, whilst many other properties have been looted” a source told Citi News.

Regional police commander visiting the town

The Western Regional Police Commander, DCOP Kwesi Duku, and a team of other security personnel are visiting the town to assess the security situation.

Already there is a team of officers who were deployed to the town last night to control the situation.

“Currently, the police is assisting to repatriate the 48 Chinese Nationals and also commence investigations into the matter” a police source told Citi News.

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The exercise has become necessary as a result of the increasing number of cholera cases and deaths in the Accra metropolis.

Accra has been innundated with refuse, with refuse-collection companies refusing to clear them due to the government’s indebtedness to them.

On Monday night, about 40 tipper trucks and other heavy equipment were deployed to the sites to cart the refuse to a new dumping site, provided in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Vice President, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, along with the Minister of Health, Dr Kweku Agyeman Mensah, and other Ministers, visited the Agbogbloshie Market, Sodom and  Gomorrah, parts of the Korle Lagoon and Kokomlemle.

The Vice President expressed concern about the level of filth that has engulfed the capital.

He said, the exercise is to immediately clear all the heaps of refuse in the metropolis to safeguard the health of Ghanaians, as the government works to find a lasting solution to waste disposal problem in the country.

According to Mr. Amissah-Arthur, the government “has been concerned about the cholera cases and the filth that is engulfing” the capital.

He stated that the government had “observed the accumulation of waste in the area” and had initiated “an  immediate crash program to remove all the refuse heaps in Accra and allow the city manage, on a daily basis, the filth that is collected.”

The Vice-President expressed  “concern about the lives of people” in the light of the recent cholera outbreak in the metropolis.

Over 500 cases of cholera have so far been recorded in Accra alone since June leading to about 15 deaths,  with the Public Health Directorate of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) warning  that the outbreak in the metropolis was gradually reaching an epidemic status.

The Vice President called for an attitudinal change towards sanitation, saying ensuring hygiene is both personal and a shared responsibility.

“We have to try to manage ourselves. There are some responsibilities for individuals that would not lead to the situation in the capital,” he said.

“We have to make it a sustainable effort on the part of the individuals themselves to manage this.”

Vice President Amissah-Arthur, however, admitted that the country faces a huge challenge in “achieving the millennium goals with regards to sanitation.”

Meanwhile the AMA boss says they are in the process of acquiring two landfill sites which will greatly help in managing waste in the national capital.

The newly-commissioned Nsumia Waste Disposal facility began operations last Wednesday and has been engineered to contain refuse for the next two years and replace the closed Pantang landfill site.

It is expected that the new landfill sites would reduce the pressure on the Kpone landfill site which, up until now, was the only site receiving garbage from Accra.

The Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) Chief Executive, Alfred Vanderpuiye, says the acquisition of the new landfill sites would “create an opportunity to clear the refuse in town.”

By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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For almost a month now, refuse generated by residents have not been collected. Residents have been calling on the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to call the refuse collection companies to order.

But it seems the companies are not to blame for the poor waste collection and residents in Accra will have to wait for a long time for an efficient collection system.

Speaking on the Cit Breakfast Show (CBS), the mayor of Accra, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije said the only available landfill site in Kpone was recently closed by the Management of the site.

”… for the past two weeks we have had to deal with the issue of dumping over there; the management of the place threatened to close the place two weeks ago because they have not been paid,” he said.

”This challenge will be with us for sometime,” he noted.

According to him the Accra Metropolitan Assembly ( AMA) has however negotiated with the management of the Kpone dump site to allow for dumping of refuse.

He also revealed that the AMA plans to construct an engineered landfill site with a recycling plant for the metropolis to ease the pressure on Kpone.

”We are also bringing in 30 refuse [tracks] which will be punctual, which will be prompt, which will engage in efficient  and effective collection of refuse throughout the metropolis,” he added.

Mr. Oko Vanderpuije said the Kpone site is currently the only appropriate landfill site for dumping of refuse.

Asked when we should expect the situation to change in Accra, the AMA boss responded that ”we will continue to manage; we have to manage with effective collection of the refuse…”

An urban specialist at the World Bank, Mr Emmanuel Nkrumah said the problem with regards to landfill is the management and planning of it.

He advised that  Accra is planned well and areas earmarked for certain necessary facilities like landfill sites.

”The key to waste disposal and waste management is to Town and Country Planning and the Management it self,” he said.

Mr. Nkrumah furthered stated if the country cannot manage waste then recycling may be a big challenge. ”Recycling is very good only if we can manage and make sure that we can do the separation; but if a common landfill we cannot manage, one begins to wonder whether we can do the recycling.”

He suggested however that Ghana can contract a private company to do the recycling.

By : Evans Effah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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