Angry residents of Oyibi, where one of three new landfill and waste management facilities has been sited, have registered their displeasure with the government for the decision.  

According to the residents, they have heard the bitter stories from residents of Achimota, Oblogo, Abokobi and others to allow their area to be used as a landfill site.

They say the health implication will be dire for them as they do not currently have water. 

"We don't have pipe borne water, we are relying on borehole. Where they are planning to site the plant is just on top of the hill and when it rains water runs down. 

"If we are sinking boreholes to drink from there and here they are siting this plant, what measures have they put in place to ensure it does not contaminate the water we are drinking?" one resident said.

They believe President Nana Akufo-Addo is not properly briefed about the area and its geography that is why he is allowing the construction of the facility there.

Related: Health crisis looms as major landfill sites in Accra are shut down

“How can you site a factory in the midst of a residential area? You are coming to set up a waste management factory which comes with its attendant consequences.

“Which neighbour brings a dangerous substance to the area where many people are living with their family? What mechanisms have this neighbour put in place to ensure that whatever substances he/she is putting there will not escape hurting other neighbours?” another resident queried.

Another furious resident told Joy News it is unfair for government to site the landfill there and expect the residents to live healthy like all other Ghanaians.

Hitherto, the Achimota landfill site served as the central dumping site by major waste management companies in the capital until a public outcry forced the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to stop waste companies from dumping there.

In 2013, the government said it has acquired a 77-acre land from the chiefs and people of Otinibi to be used as a dump site to serve Accra.

This, according to the Member of Parliament for the Madina Constituency then, Amadu Sorogo, will process about 20,000 tonnes of garbage that may be produced in the nation’s capital.

Related: The Impact of Oblogo Landfill Site in Accra-Ghana on the Surrounding Environment

The MP said one of the major projects to be undertaken by the newly created municipal assembly was to manage waste since the municipality boasted of one of the biggest markets in the capital, the Madina market.

But the fuming residents say they have been taken for granted because they expected government as part of public policy formulation, to have sat down with them to discuss it.

“We need to understand what they are coming to do, the consequences of it and assurances before we can allow them to go ahead to do anything.

“We can’t just wake up one morning and we see people all over the place with bulldozers pushing everything aside saying the President is coming to inspect the place. Why are we not Ghanaians? Don’t we deserve to be treated with respect like the President always says?” a resident said.

They are appealing that the President should not give contractors the opportunity to put up the landfill site close to their residence.