Moses Anim, Deputy Minister of Fisheries & Aquaculture, cuts tap to commission the centre whilst CODA CEO, Jerry Ahmed Shaib, looks on
Government, through the Coastal Development Authority (CODA), yesterday inaugurated a plastic bottle collection centre at the Nungua beach. The collection centre, the first of its kind, is the result of the collaboration among BizGPS, CFAO Ghana PLC and SESA.
The target is to encourage plastic recycling in the fishing communities, and avoid the disposal of waste into the ocean, gutters, landfill sites of around 250 tons of plastic per year.
In attendance at the ceremony were CODA CEO, Jerry Ahmed Shaib; the Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Moses Anim; the Krowor Municipal Chief Executive, Joshua Nii Bortey; the Managing Director of CFAO Ghana PLC, Paulo Fernandes; Executive Chairman of BizGPS Limited, Solomon O. Okoro, and the team of SESA Recycling Limited.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Mr Ahmed Shaib explained that solid waste management had become a major public policy hurdle not only in Ghana, but across the globe.
He lamented the spectre of coastal communities being littered with debris and filth of all sort, including empty water sachets/bottles, polythene bags, disposal cups, coconut husks and sandals, which are either dumped into the drains that discharge into the sea or dumped directly onto our beaches.
Waste management
He pointed out that this is due to inadequate waste management infrastructure and low patronage of the infrastructure available, among others.
He was worried with the consequence of poor sanitation reflected in vulnerability to sanitation-related diseases such as malaria, typhoid and cholera.
He said, at the same time that “we have had to live with the consequences of poor waste disposal, there have been attempts in the past to deal with the improper solid waste disposal menace along beaches”.
“I am genuinely delighted today that the CFAO Ghana PLC’s collaboration has led to the inauguration of the first-of-its-kind plastic waste collection centre established at Nungua Beach. The establishment of the collection centre is strategic and takes the burden off where to dispose of plastic wastes which, in many years, are non-biodegradable. At least, we can have these plastic bottles at the holding centre, in the meantime, while we think about alternatives for recycling,” he indicated.
He commended CFAO Ghana PLC for the foresight and vision, and disclosed plans by the Authority to roll out a ‘Clean Beach Campaign’ geared towards mobilising coastal communities to participate in environmental cleanliness, establishing linkages for value addition of plastic waste through recycling among others.
To this end, Mr Ahmed Shaib entreated all residents and leaders of Nungua to cooperate and support CFAO Ghana PLC and its partners in the effective and efficient running of the centre to achieve the desired results
Benefits
The Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Moses Anim, said the national action for the roadmap posits that, by 2014, Ghana should have zero plastic waste entrance into our ocean by 2040.
He therefore hoped the gesture would go a long way in creating jobs and mobilising revenue for national development.
The Managing Director of CFAO Ghana PLC, Paulo Fernandes, explained that the target for the collection centre is to increase plastic recycling in the fishing communities and avoid the disposal into the ocean and drainage systems.
According to him, plastics will be collected through storage containers displayed in the neighbourhood with people being encouraged to collect the offending plastics through a reward-for- recycling scheme.
It is estimated that the key groups within the communities, including fishermen, households, sanitation workers, market women, churches, mosques, schools, hospitals, etc will be impacted immensely by this scheme.
He said he is happy to see the implementation of these wastewater centres and looks forward for more such partnerships that will impact plastic waste management in Ghana.
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