AMA To Decentralize Wastes Management Department

Accra, (Greater Accra) 10 Nov. The Wastes Management Department of the Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA) is to be decentralized and privatized by next January. Mr. Nathaniel Armah, Chief Mechanical Engineer of AMA, said moves towards the decentralization of the operations of the department started about 18 months ago. ''The exercise posed some difficulties due to our inability to deliver support services to the areas involved,'' he said. Mr. Armah was speaking at a day's workshop on a pilot decentralization exercise involving Okaikoi and Ayawaso Sub-metropolitan areas. It was organized by the department for 22 participants from the Ministries of Finance and Local Government and the Department. He said the aim of the decentralization programme is to bring waste management to the community level, adding ''this is to make sure that the operations of the department are responsive to the needs of specific communities.'' Mr. Armah said 80 per cent of the operations of the department would go into private hands as from next year. He said his outfit is able to manage only 60 per cent of the solid waste in Accra, adding that some private companies have shown interest in investing in the sector. Accra has been demarcated into ten zones and the workshop was to identify proper job specifications to ensure responsible service, Mr. Armah said. He was optimistic that the processes of decentralization and privatization would facilitate effectiveness in the management of wastes in Accra and called on residents of the city to cooperate to make the exercise a success.