The Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Tamale, Adam Abubakar Takoro has praised the partnership between the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TaMA) and Zoomlion Ghana Limited in addressing sanitation challenges in the metropolis but says more equipment is needed to sustain progress.
Speaking during a visit by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Sanitation and Water Resources to the Assembly, the MCE said the entry of Zoomlion into the waste management space had eased many of the city’s sanitation burdens.
“Until Zoomlion entered the sanitation space, Tamale was grappling with loads of sanitation issues,” he noted. He explained that inadequate waste containers, limited financial resources, and dumpsites with their attendant health impacts had long posed difficulties.
Takoro said TaMA’s collaboration with private sector players such as Zoomlion had improved sanitation outcomes in Tamale and its environs. “We are also aggressively creating awareness among the public on the need to keep their environs clean,” he added.
He, however, appealed to the Northern Regional Coordinating Council (NRCC) to release one of its four idle payloaders to the Assembly to support sanitation work. According to him, such logistical support would “go a long way to keep the Tamale metropolis healthy.”
Zoomlion’s Northern Regional Coordinator, Venantius Kuudigr, also urged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to request more communal refuse containers from the company. He stressed that the lack of sufficient containers remained a key factor behind indiscriminate dumping and argued that increasing container availability at strategic points in communities would greatly improve waste management. He assured that Zoomlion had the capacity to supply more bins to support assemblies.
Mr Kuudigr also commended the MCE of Tamale for his dedication to tackling sanitation problems in the metropolis.
The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Sanitation, John Kwabena Oti Bless, said the concerns raised during the visit would be addressed, promising that the committee would work with relevant authorities to find solutions.
