Editorial: Clearing Agbogbloshie Of Filth Is An Important First Step But…

The government has begun an emergency exercise to evacuate tonnes of accumulated waste along the Odaw River at Agbogbloshie, as part of efforts to address sanitation challenges and prevent perennial flooding in Accra.

The waste is being transported to the Adepa Engineered Landfill site at Nsawam, in the Eastern Region. The exercise is being led by the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, with support from the Ghana Armed Forces and other stakeholders.

President John Dramani Mahama, who officially launched the exercise at the waste transfer site, said the operation would also pave the way for the Agbogbloshie Urban Renewal Project. He said the reclaimed land was expected to be used for an industrial park, including a major textile factory intended to create employment.

The President said an assessment estimated the accumulated waste at about one million tonnes and indicated that the area could be cleared within 90 days if work progressed as planned.

He urged residents to cooperate with the exercise and called for transparency and accountability in the use of resources. The Ghana Armed Forces will also support efforts to protect the reclaimed land from encroachment.

The Chronicle finds the government’s decision to begin the evacuation of the massive accumulation of waste along the Odaw River at Agbogbloshie a necessary intervention.

For decades, the accumulation of waste in the area has contributed to serious sanitation challenges, while the obstruction of waterways has heightened concerns about flooding in Accra. The reported scale of the waste, estimated at about one million tonnes, underlines the magnitude of the problem facing the authorities.

The ongoing exercise, therefore, deserves the cooperation of residents, businesses and other stakeholders. If the government is able to clear the area, however, the real test will be what happens afterwards.

It would serve little purpose to spend significant public resources removing tonnes of waste only for the same area to become an illegal dumping ground again. The reclaimed space must be properly protected and monitored to prevent a return to the conditions that created the problem in the first place.

This means the authorities must put in place practical and accessible alternatives for waste disposal. People and businesses need designated places where they can legitimately dispose of their waste. Enforcement alone will not solve the problem if residents have nowhere convenient and affordable to take their refuse.

There must also be sustained public education. Residents, traders and businesses need to understand the health, environmental and flooding consequences of indiscriminate dumping. Education should go beyond telling people not to dump waste and teach households and businesses how to segregate waste at source**,** identify recyclable materials and dispose of different categories of waste appropriately.

Recycling and waste recovery should form part of the long-term solution. What is currently regarded as refuse can, in some cases, become a resource when properly separated and processed.

The authorities must also ensure that the resources committed to the exercise are used transparently and efficiently, as President Mahama has emphasised.

Clearing Agbogbloshie is an important first step. But the success of the exercise should not be measured simply by how quickly the waste disappears. It should be measured by whether the area remains clean, whether people have proper disposal options, and whether a sustainable waste-management system prevents the problem from returning.

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