The government plans to deploy the military to secure the Jamestown Transfer Station after the accumulated waste at the site is evacuated, Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, has announced.
Mr Ayariga said the military will take responsibility for protecting the area once the waste has been removed to prevent the site from being used for dumping again.
He said the military will also help prevent squatters from returning to the cleared land and recreating the conditions that contributed to the sanitation problem.
“After we’ve moved it out of the Jamestown area, the military will take responsibility for protecting that area and making sure that we don’t bring back waste and also squatters don’t stay on the land that we have cleared and create mess again for us,” he said.
The announcement comes as government begins a detailed assessment of the waste at Jamestown and the landfill where it is expected to be deposited.
Mr Ayariga said authorities are assessing the capacity of the receiving landfill and the distance between the two locations to determine the logistics required for the evacuation.
This includes calculating the number of trucks, trips and amount of fuel needed to transport the waste.
He said the Ministries of Defence, Roads and Highways, and Finance will be involved in the exercise, with the Roads and Highways Ministry expected to provide equipment.
According to Mr Ayariga, clearing the waste from Jamestown will only be effective if the area is protected afterwards.
He said government does not want to invest resources in removing the waste only for the site to become a dumping ground again.
The military’s role will therefore be to help maintain the cleared area and ensure that waste is not brought back to the site.
The Minister said government also wants to prevent people from settling on the cleared land, particularly squatters whose activities could create another environmental and sanitation challenge.
Mr Ayariga said the Ministry of Finance has plans for the development of the Jamestown area, making it important for government to protect the land once the waste has been evacuated.
He said the sanitation intervention must therefore go beyond the removal of the existing waste and ensure that the site is preserved for its intended future use.
The Minister also cautioned waste managers and recyclers against undermining the clean-up by transporting recovered materials back into the city in a manner that eventually creates more waste.
He said government wants recyclable materials to be properly processed and reused rather than simply moved from one location to another.
Mr Ayariga explained that government is also considering support for young people involved in recycling, including investment in crushing equipment that could help them process recyclable materials and sell them back into the market.
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