The Executive Secretary of the Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA), Ama Ofori Antwi, has raised concerns over the disposal of waste expected to be collected during the government’s planned two-day national clean-up exercise, citing the absence of engineered landfill sites in the Greater Accra Region.

Speaking on Adom TV’s Badwam, Madam Ofori Antwi questioned where the huge volumes of refuse would be taken after the exercise.

“When I saw the announcement about the two-day clean-up exercise, the first question I asked myself was, ‘Where will we dump all the waste?'” she said.

She explained that Greater Accra currently has no properly engineered or planned landfill sites to support waste disposal.

“At the moment, we do not have structured landfill sites to support waste evacuation. What we have are illegal dumpsites that are being managed, and in some cases, waste is dumped and burnt at night. That is open burning, and it is harmful to the environment,” she stated.

Madam Ofori Antwi described the situation as a major challenge for waste management companies, saying the lack of proper disposal facilities continues to hamper efforts to keep the capital clean.

“There is already a huge amount of waste in the city, so evacuating additional refuse without a clear disposal strategy will be difficult,” she noted.

She called on government to develop a sustainable waste management strategy, including the establishment of engineered landfill sites, to ensure waste collected during clean-up campaigns is disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner.

According to her, without addressing the issue of final disposal, periodic clean-up exercises alone will not provide a lasting solution to Accra’s sanitation challenges.