VOLTA REGION NAMED CLEANEST BY PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE DESPITE WASTE MANAGEMENT GAPS

VOLTA REGION NAMED CLEANEST BY PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE DESPITE WASTE MANAGEMENT GAPS The Volta Region has been described by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Water and Sanitation as the cleanest region it has visited so far. The commendation came during the Committee’s visit to the Ho Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant, IRECOP, at Akrofu-Agorve, as part of a two-day monitoring exercise of sanitation and waste management facilities in the Volta and Oti regions. But behind the clean environment are challenges with waste collection, poor access roads, limited landfill infrastructure and low recycling levels that continue to put pressure on the region’s waste management system. Efforts to improve waste management in the Volta Region are being constrained by poor access roads, limited disposal infrastructure and low levels of recycling, even as the region generates an estimated 268,000 tonnes of solid waste annually. The situation means that large volumes of waste are collected and transported mainly for disposal, while only about 2 percent is recycled, pointing to a significant gap in the recovery of materials that could otherwise be reused. The challenges were highlighted during a visit by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Water and Sanitation to the Ho Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant (IRECOP) at Akrofu-Agorve. The IRECOP currently collects about 65 percent, against its target of 85 percent. The waste stream is heavily made up of organic material, alongside a growing proportion of plastics.But getting the waste to the processing plant remains a major challenge. The Group Head of Government Relations at the Environment and Sanitation Processing Cluster of the Jospong Group of Companies, Betty Brown Nyadu, said the situation potentially contribute to illegal dumping in nearby forests and farms. According to the Committee Chairman Mr John Oti Bless although Volta Region has earned Parliament’s recognition as the cleanest among the regions visited, the monitoring exercise has also highlighted what could undermine that progress and would engage relevant authorities to address it. For the Parliamentary Committee, the challenges identified during the monitoring exercise form part of its oversight responsibility to assess sanitation infrastructure and also reaffirmed the Committee’s support for the proposed National Sanitation Authority Bill, saying stakeholders in the sanitation sector have expressed support for the establishment of a dedicated authority to strengthen sanitation management in the country.