The Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly is set to introduce a new waste management measure that will require residents to pay before dumping refuse at designated container sites across the municipality. This is part of efforts to curb the long-standing problem of indiscriminate dumping, which has made sanitation management increasingly difficult for the Assembly.
The Municipal Chief Executive, Roland Atanga Ayoo, announced the move during an exercise to evacuate large heaps of accumulated refuse near the slaughterhouse in Bolgatanga. According to him, the Assembly will station trained individuals at each refuse container point to collect levies from waste disposers and ensure proper use of the containers.
For years, the Bolgatanga municipality has struggled to maintain cleanliness due to residents dumping refuse around containers instead of inside them. This practice worsens during the rainy season, when waterlogged surroundings make it nearly impossible for Assembly trucks to access and lift filled containers.
Mr. Ayoo explained that the waste at the slaughterhouse area should have been cleared as far back as August, but flooding made the site inaccessible.
“Here is a waterlogged area. If we attempted clearing as of August, the trucks would have been stuck,” he said. “Now that the rains are over, we are beginning the second leg of the evacuation exercise, which will last three days.”
The Assembly plans to extend the clean-up exercise to several areas, including the New Market, Zongo, and some communities in the hinterlands. To prevent a recurrence of the sanitation crisis, the MCE announced a new regulatory approach at refuse points.
“After this exercise, we will put mechanisms in place to regulate the pouring of waste,” he stated. “Two or three people will be in charge of each dump site, and residents will pay a levy depending on the size of the waste they bring.”
The levy system, he noted, is expected to reduce residents’ use of containers responsibly, generate funds to support fuel and evacuation costs, and provide employment for the individuals manning the sites. Mr. Ayoo added that indiscriminate dumping elsewhere would attract sanctions.
“If you dump waste in an unauthorized area, you will face the law. Whether you like it or not, you must take it to the right place and pay something small.”
The Assembly Member for Tindonseo/Lagos Town/Daporetindongo, Maxwell Adongo Anyorka, whose electoral area hosts the major dumping site, welcomed the intervention.
“This refuse site takes rubbish from the market, lorry station, and the entire community. It is an eyesore,” he said. “Stationing people here to collect fees will ensure fuel is always available to lift full containers.”
Mr. Anyorka called on residents to comply with the new system to keep the area clean and prevent health risks such as cholera and malaria.
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