Government to address Agbogbloshie e-waste and open defecation

GNA-President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced that the construction of a state-of-the-art recycling facility at Agbogbloshie will commence in April.

The move, he said would help to solve the problem of waste disposal in an environmentally-friendly manner and create over 20,000 direct jobs, through the establishment of associated holding centres in each regional capital and collection centres in each district.

President Akufo-Addo, said this when delivering the State of the Nation’s Address in Accra on Thursday.

He stated that the facility formed part of government’s efforts towards addressing the problem of electronic waste comprehensively.

“On August 20, 2018, I launched the National E-waste Programme to mark the commencement of two key provisions of the Hazardous and Electronic Waste Control and Management Act, Act 917.

“These provisions empower the External Service Provider to verify, assess and collect the advance recycle eco fee on all electrical and electronic equipment from all exporting countries”.

Touching on open defecation, the President said it was unfortunate that, in 2019, the country had to revisit this topic saying open defecation could not be a characteristic of a country that was working to be transformed economically and to be counted amongst the developed nations of the world.

President Akufo-Addo, said government together with stakeholders last year, built 35,862 household toilets to ensure access to toilet and reduce open defecation.

At the district level, he said the Community Led Total Sanitation Programme was being implemented in over 4,500 communities in 130 districts to achieve Open Defecation Free Communities.

President Akufo-Addo stated that the government and partners would continue to educate and sensitise people, on the need to stop open defecation as well as enforce the bye-laws to ensure cleanliness.