The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Kpone Katamanso, Samuel T.K. Morton, has disclosed that the government is set to construct new regional landfill sites across the Greater Accra Region as part of plans to decommission existing landfill sites that have exceeded their capacity.

According to him, the initiative forms part of a 50-year waste management development project being spearheaded by the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Ahmed Ibrahim.

Morton said the project committee is currently finalising its technical drawings, which will be submitted to Cabinet for approval before implementation begins.

He revealed that lands have already been secured at Ayikuma, Sege and Paanor to serve as the new landfill sites that will serve the Greater Accra Region areas. 

Speaking to Rebecca Lartey, the MCE explained that under the proposed plan, the Greater Accra Region will be divided into three waste management zones, with each of the three locations designated to receive waste from specific areas.

He stated that once the new landfill sites become operational, waste tricycle operators who currently dispose of refuse at the Kpone landfill site will instead transport their waste to the Ayikuma landfill facility.

Morton noted that the Kpone landfill site has outlived its usefulness after exceeding its operational capacity and will subsequently be decommissioned to be repurposed for waste-to-energy generation to produce various forms of energy.

Meanwhile, Morton expressed concern over the increasing practice of indiscriminate dumping by some waste tricycle operators within the municipality, describing it as a growing financial burden on the assembly.

He disclosed that surveillance teams have been deployed to monitor illegal dumping activities, warning that any operator caught flouting the law will be prosecuted.