LBY Daniel Bampoe
Minority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, has called for the immediate suspension of the evacuation of waste from Accra to the Adipa Engineered Landfill at community in his constituency, citing reported environmental and public-health concerns raised by residents in communities around the facility.
Speaking on the issue, Annoh-Dompreh said residents around Adepa and Nsumia had complained of what he described as unbearable conditions, including foul odours, increased fly infestation and concerns about possible pollution of water bodies. These concerns were presented by the MP and residents and have not, from the available reporting, been established through an independent environmental assessment.
Mr. Annoh-Dompreh also referred to reported concerns over leachate from the existing landfill around Nsumia.
He explained that contaminated liquid from waste had entered surrounding areas and affected water sources, vegetation and wildlife. These are allegations attributed to the MP and should be distinguished from independently verified findings.
The MP said the situation was particularly concerning because, in his view, the movement of additional waste to Adepa was taking place without adequate consultation with affected communities.
He said chiefs, residents, the local assembly, assembly members and other relevant stakeholders were not properly engaged before the operation began.
“There was no engagement. The chiefs and the people in that area were not engaged. The local assembly was not engaged. Assemblymen, the MP of the area, all the stakeholders were not engaged,” he said.
Mr. Annoh-Dompreh acknowledged that waste management remains a major challenge for Ghana, but argued that the solution should not simply involve transferring waste from one community to another.
He called for lessons to be drawn from previous waste-management experiences around Nsawam and for environmental safeguards to be independently assessed before the operation continues.
Another concern raised by the MP was what he described as inadequate recycling and processing of the waste at the facility. According to him, the continued dumping of waste without sufficient mitigating measures could worsen the concerns being raised by residents.
“There’s still continuous dumping, no recycling, so to speak. There’s continuous dumping. There are no other mitigating measures to deal with the aftermath and the effects of the waste being done there,” he said.
He also questioned the manner in which some of the waste was being transported. Mr. Annoh-Dompreh said that, based on his monitoring during the preceding week, he had not observed the trucks transporting the waste properly covered and claimed that waste was exposed during transportation.
Against this background, the MP is calling for independent experts to assess the reported impact of the waste-disposal operation on residents, water bodies, vegetation and animals before a long-term arrangement is adopted.
He has further advocated a shift from simply dumping waste towards more sustainable treatment, recycling and resource-recovery systems.
“Waste is a resource depending on how you use it,” he said.
Mr. Annoh-Dompreh disclosed that he had written to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the company involved in the operation over the concerns. He said he had also engaged residents, chiefs and elders and was pressing for a suspension of the waste evacuation to allow meaningful consultations.
The MP said the company had indicated its readiness to engage the community, but questioned why dumping should continue while consultations were being contemplated.
“At one breath, you are ready to engage. At another breath, you continue to dump the waste. And that for me is a disconnect,” he said.
The controversy follows the government’s ongoing effort to clear large quantities of accumulated waste from Agbogbloshie and surrounding areas in Accra.
President John Dramani Mahama has described the evacuation as part of efforts to address sanitation challenges in the capital, with the cleared area intended for redevelopment.
Reports indicate that the operation involves the transportation of accumulated waste to the Adepa Engineered Landfill at Nsawam.
The dispute has consequently shifted attention to the balance between addressing Accra’s sanitation problems and ensuring that communities receiving the waste are adequately consulted and protected.
