By Adnan Adams Mohammed
A high-level government effort to transform urban sanitation in the nation’s capital has entered its operational phase, as the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, inspected facilities at the Adepa landfill site in the Eastern Region on Wednesday.
The inspection forms part of a swift response to directives issued by President John Dramani Mahama to permanently remove the notorious, long-standing refuse heaps sprawling across Jamestown and adjacent coastal communities near Korle-Bu.
Rather than relying on traditional procurement delays, the ministry is deploying an unconventional partnership model by rallying major civil construction firms to donate heavy machinery, operators, and fuel over weekend off-days.
“The strategy that we are trying to deploy is to appeal to contractors who are already doing government contracts and have piled up a huge equipment stock,” Ayariga said during the tour. “We are going to convene a meeting… and ask, ‘Can you help us evacuate this mess out of this place?’ Many of them are actually willing to do it at no cost to the state.”
Multi-Agency Security and Traffic Enforcement
Recognizing the scale of moving hundreds of heavy-duty earthmovers and tipper trucks between Accra and the Eastern Region, the government has enlisted the Ghana Armed Forces alongside Ghana Armed Forcesto ensure seamless transit and secure reclaimed land.
“You are going to have hundreds of trucks and equipment,” the Minister highlighted. “We may decide that from Jamestown up to this place, vehicular movement will be restricted to one side of the road, leaving the other dedicated strictly to evacuation trucks.”
Ayariga emphasized that military personnel will maintain a permanent presence at cleared sites in Jamestown to block illegal dumping activities once the waste is cleared.
“The military will take charge of that land and protect it to prevent people from coming at night to dump waste there again,” he declared.
Preparations are being finalized ahead of a potential rollout as early as this weekend, with President Mahama expected to launch the national cleanup initiative alongside participating contractors.
