Mahama launches 90-day Agbogbloshie clearance, with about one million tonnes headed to Adepa landfill

Pinned summary · as of 05:29

President John Dramani Mahama started a 90-day drive on Friday, 18 September, to haul rubbish out of Agbogbloshie in Accra to a landfill near Nsawam in the Eastern Region. Communities around that landfill, which some reports spell Adipa, are now objecting to the arrivals, and Local Government Minister Mahama Ayariga has apologised for the disruption and said the transfer should end in about a month.

What we know

• Mr Mahama launched the national emergency clearance of Agbogbloshie on 18 September. The rubbish is being carried to the Adepa engineered landfill near Nsawam, along a route of roughly 42 kilometres.
• The operation is expected to remove around one million tonnes of waste within 90 days. That tonnage came from a drone-based artificial intelligence assessment of the site.
• The Local Government Ministry runs the exercise together with the Ghana Armed Forces, whose 48 Engineer Regiment gives engineering support, using tipper trucks, excavators, bulldozers and wheel loaders obtained under the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP).
• The Finance Ministry is paying for the work, with further money coming from the District Assemblies Common Fund.
• Mr Mahama said the cleared land will be turned into an industrial park that includes a large textile factory meant to employ young people.
• The president said most heavy hauling will happen at night, with lighter removal during the day. He asked people living in Old Fadama and Agbogbloshie to cooperate with soldiers, DRIP operators and assembly teams while the operation lasts.
• Mr Mahama also said the waste would be compacted and covered at Adepa under environmental safeguards, and that the Agbogbloshie site must never again be used for dumping.
• Mr Ayariga has been closely involved in the exercise, both visiting the Agbogbloshie site and speaking publicly about its progress.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Rainbow Radio Online reported that Mr Ayariga visited when the cleanup was in its fifth day. It said the drive covers Agbogbloshie, Old Fadama, Abbosey Okai and Jamestown, and that soldiers of the 48 Engineer Regiment, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, DRIP crews and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly are all taking part. These details come from that report alone.
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  Field supervisors told the minister that long-standing refuse heaps were being cleared, but that a crowded local transfer station and traffic jams were slowing the haulage trucks, Rainbow Radio Online reported. Mr Ayariga then pledged to work with the police motor traffic unit on traffic management, and said he was confident the joint effort would clear the backlog.
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  Residents of the Adipa/Asiaw Electoral Area gave the government seven days to stop moving waste from Agbogbloshie to the landfill and to talk to them, and threatened to block roads to the dumpsite otherwise, Citi Newsroom reported. They cited heaps of rubbish, foul smells and fears that groundwater could be polluted when it rains.
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  Assembly Member Emmanuel Asamoah, who spoke to journalists on Monday, 28 September, asked for an outside study of the site's effects on the environment and on health, followed by a full cleanup paid for by the responsible authorities. "We are not against a fair, well-regulated waste management system, but we are against being treated as an afterthought," he said.
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  The Ghana Report reported that residents claim conditions are hurting their quality of life, with some allegedly thinking of leaving the township, and that they want a suspension of transfers so that arrangements at the site can be reviewed.
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  Frank Annoh-Dompreh, the Nsawam-Adoagyiri MP and Minority Chief Whip, criticised the move of waste to Adipa, saying stakeholders were not properly consulted. He said residents' right to a clean environment was at stake and asked why Adipa was chosen and why Mr Ayariga had not visited the community first. He added that he does not oppose the clearance itself.
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  Mr Ayariga told Eyewitness News on Monday, 28 September, that the transfer should be over within a month, after which truck traffic to the site would drop sharply, which is shorter than the 90 days announced at launch. He acknowledged that night-time truck movements had caused noise and traffic problems, and said, "So I do apologise for that inconvenience." This account rests on a single report.
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  The minister put the number of truck trips at between 150 and 200 in a single night, and said the landfill would be engineered and later decommissioned so that rainwater does not reach the waste and create leachate, Citi Newsroom reported. These figures and plans have not been verified elsewhere.
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  Kumasi Mail cited earlier studies that found pollution, including possibly toxic metals, near the old electronic-waste recycling yard at Agbogbloshie, and flagged possible dangers to people and the ecosystem.
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  Onua Online reported that Mr Mahama also outlined a national waste plan that includes household bins, more transfer stations, additional recycling plants, bigger landfill capacity around Greater Kumasi, and a properly engineered landfill for each of the 16 regional capitals. This comes from one report.

Why it matters for Ghana

Households near the Adipa landfill say they are living with rubbish, smells and worry over their water, while residents of Accra's Agbogbloshie and neighbouring areas stand to gain from a cleaner neighbourhood. The disagreement shows that moving refuse out of one community can shift the burden onto another. The seven-day deadline and the threat of road blockades mean the coming week will show whether authorities and residents can reach an arrangement.