President Akufo-Addo cutting the sod for the project
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday cut the sod for the construction of the Sekondi-Takoradi Solid and Liquid Waste Facility, which is estimated to cost 60 million Euros, in Asaakae in the Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly (EKMA) in the Western Region.
The project, which is going to be executed by waste management expert, Zoomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL), and its partners — Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR), Sewerage Systems Ghana Limited (SSGL), Pureco and Komptech — would serve over two million people in EKMA and it would become the first ever modern waste treatment plant in the region.
At a brief ceremony yesterday, President Akufo-Addo reiterated that the issue of sanitation was very important to his government, stressing “that is why the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources was set up and mandated to ensure proper sanitation across the country.”
The EKMA solid and liquid waste treatment facilities, he said, was a testimony of the cordial relations between the government and the private sector, adding “it is in line with my government policy of creating an enabling environment for the private sector to bridge the infrastructure gap.”
“Equally important is the fact that it will provide jobs for the people, potable water, good roads, which will help improve the water and sanitation situation in the municipality,” he said and urged the relevant state institutions to ensure that the construction of the project is carried out to the right specifications.
The President commended Jospong Group of Companies for its partnership with the government to improve sanitation in the country and also lauded them for helping in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, saying “indeed, your effort in the fight against Covid-19 is a patriotic intervention.”
The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, explained that the two waste treatment facilities would help improve and sustain the gains made in the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) space.
She said the ministry over the past three and half years had enjoyed fruitful relations with members of the Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA), Ghana, and said ZGL in particular had put its resources and equipment at the government’s disposal in the fight for proper sanitation.
For his part, the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, described the project as a huge one which would provide jobs to over 250 people.
While praising the President for gracing the occasion, the Executive Chairman, Jospong Group of Companies, Dr. Joseph Siaw-Agyepong, disclosed that the project would sit on a 200-acre land, adding that it would comprise a 400-ton solid waste recycling and composting plant, 1,000 cubic metres wastewater treatment facility to serve about two million people and a staff quarters that would accommodate 250 staff members.
Other facilities are a training and research centre laboratory and 7.5-kilometre road from Asaakae to the site. “When completed, it will create about 250 jobs for the indigenous and indirect jobs of 1,500,” he added.
According to Dr. Siaw-Agyepong, both treatment facilities would be completed within 11 months.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Asaakae