PRESS STATEMENT

BY THE

ACCRA METROPOLITAN ASSEMBLY (AMA) IN

RESPONSE TO THE PRESIDENTS VISION OF
MAKING ACCRA THE CLEANEST CITY

9TH MAY 2017

o n the 23rd April, 2017 the President of the Republic, Nana

Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, made a public declaration of the
governments vision to make Accra the cleanest, and by
extension the most beautiful City of Africa. To be clear the
vision is not merely to keep Accra clean. It is to make the City of Accra
cleaner and more beautiful than Nairobi in Kenya, Johannesburg & Cape
Town in South Africa and Port Louis in Mauritius, the acclaimed cleanest
cities in Africa. It is a vision to which existing action plans and practices
may not be able to attain. The vision requires a sea change in policy,
action plans, city cleaning approaches, enforcement mechanisms and
ATTITUDES. Being managers of the City of Accra, the Accra
Metropolitan Assembly in support of the policy directives of the Ministry
of Sanitation and Water Resources we wish to assure the President that
we see his vision as realistic and achievable within the time frame and
ready to take on the challenge.
The Presidents vision is coming against the background of a 2015
joint report of the World Health Organization and United Nations

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Childrens Fund that ranked Ghana the 7th dirtiest country in the World. It
is hard to deny the enormity and urgency of the sanitation challenge of
Accra that has been petrifying Accra city dwellers for decades. Clean
means clean. It means zero tolerance for filth, pollution and unauthorized
developments. It also means high citywide appetite for clean
environment, clean water and orderly developments.

Leapfrogging from one of the dirtiest to the cleanest in Africa is,

undeniably an uphill task and requires a lot more than slogans, rhetorics,
speeches and sound bites, even though these may be important on
occasions to shape behaviors and mobilize support for the vision. This
vision will be achieved if residents, visitors, religious bodies, businesses,
development partners, charities and the public sector agencies operating
in the city really commit to it. It requires a kind of concerted leadership,
commitment and ATTITUDES by all that are overtly different from the
kind that created, encouraged and tolerated the squalor in the first place.
It also requires unbending political will, the president has set the tone, the
Ministry of Sanitation will give policy directions and AMA will take it
forward. We will work concurrently with capable private sector sanitation
enterprises and other partners to supplement the efforts of the Accra
Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) in implementing the Clean Accra Charter
and Action Plans that will aid the realization of the vision.

We will be tough on excessive generation and indiscriminate

disposal of all types of waste solid, liquid, medical, hazardous,
emissions as well as land, water and atmospheric pollution. We will not
renege on our efforts at stopping the disposal of dirty oil into the soil by
automobile mechanics, incessant burning of e-waste on bare ground and
disposal of untreated biomedical waste into the ground without treatment.

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 In pursuit of this vision, our focus will be on (1) waste
management, (2) beautification of the City and (3) law enforcement.

1. WASTE MANAGEMENT

a. WASTE PREVENTION AND REDUCTION

The first step to ridding the city of filth and pollution is to prevent or cut
back on waste generation at the source. The vast majority of the citys
waste comes from the type of materials and methods used in producing
the products we use or consume, packaging and construction. Many of
these are non-reusable, non-biodegradable and sometimes harmful to
human health. We shall work with relevant bodies and partners to reduce
the use of non-compostable materials such as plastics in the design and
manufacturing of products, carrier bags and packaging. Companies
within the city must begin to rethink the way products are designed,
manufactured and packaged, bearing in mind the need to reduce waste
and use ingredients that are safely reusable, recyclable or returnable to
the natural system. Importers must do likewise.

b. DIGNIFIED DISPOSAL OF WASTE

a. We are galvanizing a very strong public objection against

undignified waste disposal in the city. It is important that we shift
our mindset and openly condemn undignified garbage disposal
including littering of streets, gutters and public places, open
defecation, dumping of untreated effluent and industrial waste into
the Odaw - Korle Lagoon and other water bodies and so forth.
b. There will be sustained public education on acceptable cleanliness
practices.
c. On the part of AMA, we shall continue to work with our sanitation
service providers, private sector partners, NGOs and the

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 international partners to widen access to convenient, safe,
sustainable and culturally appropriate dignified sanitation facilities
and services.

d. To this end:

o The Accra Metropolitan Assemblys policy of Polluter-Pay

System has it that waste generators are responsible for the
disposal of the waste they generate. Under this policy, the
Accra Metropolitan Assemblys area is currently divided
into 15 service zones and outsourced to 11 private sanitation
service providers as under listed;

S/NO. NAME OF COMPANY SERVICE ZONES

Metropolitan Waste and Allied
1 Services
2 Liberty Waste Services
3 Tropical Waste Services
4 Jekora Ventures Limited
5 Meskworld Company Limited
6 Platinum Municipal Services
7 Yafuru Waste Services
8 J.Stanley-Owusu & Co. Ltd.
9 Aryeetey Brothers Co. Ltd
10 Asadu Royal Seed Limited
11 Zoomlion Domestic Services
1. Part of Ablekuma Central Sub Metro
2. Part of Okaikoi North Sub Metro
3. Part of Ablekuma South Sub Metro
4. Part of Ablekuma South Sub Metro
5. Part of Ashiedu Keteke Sub Metro
6. Osu Klottey Sub Metro
7. Part of Ashiedu Keteke Sub Metro
8. Part of Ayawaso East Sub Metro
9. Part of Okaikoi North Sub Metro
10. Okaikoi South Sub Metro
11. Part of Ayawaso East Sub Metro
12. Ablekuma North Sub Metro
13. Ayawaso West Sub Metro
14. Ayawaso Central Sub Metro
15. Part of Ablekuma Central Sub Metro

As part of the above scheme, there will be an intensified

distribution of garbage bins in the City of Accra. This will

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 tremendously ensure convenient and reliable household
waste collection and dignified waste disposal. We are
therefore directing all residents to register with the service
provider assigned in their respective areas.
o Soon we shall commission a new transfer station
o We shall commission a new transfer station at Achimota
(owned by a private sanitation company) to provide an
additional site for trucks and tricycles to dump waste. This
will reduce the distance for carting waste to the final
disposal site.
o It is important to note that operating waste dumping sites
without permit is illegal and there will be effective
enforcement. We wish to assure the general public that all
unapproved refuse heaps anywhere in the city will be
evacuated and closed down permanently
o Fly tipping (or fly-dumping) that is dumping of garbage or
large items onto unapproved sites or places will be met with
prosecutions or large fines. A dedicated WhatsApp hotline

numbers; 0202464444 OR 0202464411 are the

hotlines for reporting and sending photographic evidence of
fly tipping to AMA. We must be citizens and not
spectators. City dwellers must be the watchdogs and ensure
that undignified waste disposals are photographed and
reported to AMA for immediate action.
o Daily sanitary inspection in which environmental health
inspectors conduct house-to-house inspections of potential
waste generation centres such as households, institutions,
markets, medical facilities and so forth to check whether the
laws on health and hygiene are adhered to, will be
reinvigorated; Offenders will be prosecuted

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 uncompromisingly or face huge fines; It is important to note
that offenders can even be jailed.
o Public patronage of the National Sanitation Day (first
Saturday of every new month) is waning woefully. To
ensure compliance, the AMA will pay attention to inspection
and enforcement of its bylaws on every National Sanitation
Day there will be a special sanitation inspection and
enforcement on every national sanitation day;

o We note with concern the nuisance that the unlicensed waste

collection tricycles have been causing in the city. Steps are
underway to regulate their operations.

o The Assembly is also directing that, the erecting of illegal

structures including bill boards and signages and selling at
unauthorized places should cease forthwith. Over the past
few days, the Assembly has started clearing the Kwame
Nkrumah interchange of such structures and traders and we
intend to extend this exercise to cover all areas within the
metropolis.

o It is also paramount that residences of Accra change their

attitude towards the storage and disposal of their household
waste. It must be emphasized that without change of attitude
it will be impossible to achieve the vision that we have set
for ourselves.

c. INCREASE REUSE AND RECYCLE

We encourage, educate and engage with people and organizations

to adopt a reuse or recycle culture to reduce the volume of waste
that needs to be disposed. Dont throw it away, if it can be reused
or recycled.

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 2. BEAUTIFICATION

In addition to being clean, Accra must look attractive at all time to

give residents and visitors a sense of pride. Beautiful cities attract
talents, investments and economic activities thereby increasing the
citys unique contribution to the nations GDP. Beautification is
also a known driver of tourism, which in turn enhances business
activities in the city.

To this end we shall soon publish the Accra City Beautification

Plan, which will layout our action plans for promoting stunning
architectural designs, urban landscaping, beatification of open
spaces and tree planting activities among others.

3. ENFORCEMENT OF BY LAWS

Existing by laws will be stringently enforced

However in view of the new vision, we have noted that some of
our by-laws would need revision to bring them in line. We
have therefore initiated a holistic review of the by-laws.
As part of this review penal consequences for breaching the
laws of the city will be heightened. Offenders will no longer be
handled with kids gloves.
There will be an ongoing public education to make the public
aware of the requirements of the law.

4. CONCULSION

It is time for us to rise to the challenge of making Accra the cleanest

City in Africa. It is a realistic and achievable vision. But it is one that
requires concerted efforts. AMA in collaboration with its partners
pledges to show leadership and commitment to the course and will
show tangible progress in the coming weeks.

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I thank you all for your time and attention. It is our wish that the
media will take up the challenge as part of your corporate social
responsibility and make the vision a reality.

We call on all to publicly endorse the Presidents vision for the city
as a sign of commitment to doing what is within our means to make
Accra the cleanest city in Africa.

Thank you and may Allah bless us all.