IRECOPs will save Ghana from filth - Sanitation Minister

The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR), Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah says the government was on course to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 on Clean Water and Sanitation by the year 2030.

IRECOPs will save Ghana from filth - Sanitation Minister
Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah going through the site plan

The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR), Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has underscored that the completion of the Integrated Recycling and Composting Plants (IRECOPs) across the country will help a great deal to eliminate pockets of refuse that are often sighted in the towns and cities.
  
She described the IRECOPs as “novel recycling plants” which will not only be connecting and treating waste but adding value to the waste as well.

Madam Dapaah made the assertion when she paid a working visit to the construction site of the Volta Integrated Waste Treatment Facility at Akrofu, a suburb of Ho in the Volta Region.

The minister’s visit formed part of a three-day tour in the Volta and Oti Regions to inspect ongoing government projects in the water and sanitation space in the two regions. 

In the Volta Region, she inspected three projects---two in water and one in sanitation. 

She said the IRECOP project was a collaboration between the government of Ghana and the private sector, noting that waste in the regions will be hauled to these treatment plants dotted across the 16 regions where they will be treated and worked on.    

After inspecting the ongoing integrated waste treatment plant at Akrofu, an elated Madam Dapaah expressed: “I am sure by the end of the year, the project will be finished and will be commissioned by His Excellency, the President.”

On that score, she asserted that President Akufo-Addo was a man of “great vision.” 

“Had it not been him I don't think this idea would have crystallised into what we are seeing here today,” she said.

Continuing, she indicated that the setting up of the MSWR has paved way for a lot to be done in the water and sanitation sector. 

“And I am also happy that we are effectively collaborating with the private sector to have very important projects like this IRECOP in Ho and all the regional capitals. The ministry's vision is also to tie in the President's vision to make Ghana a clean country, especially our capitals,” she averred.

This, she explained, was because not much waste was generated in the rural communities.

“They don’t have much problem with waste, and most of the waste they generate is organic which can easily be turned into compost,” she intoned.

Earlier, during an inspection of a water treatment plant at Adidome in the Central Tongu District, she reiterated that the government was on course to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 on Clean Water and Sanitation by the year 2030.

This, she pointed out, was evident in the huge investment made by the government in the water and sanitation space across the country.

“…it is very important that we get the parameters right. Sod has been cut for some of the water projects in the Volta Region. Last year, we were privileged to have His Excellency cut sod for eight (8) major water projects totalling GHC1.40 billion US dollars which will give 4.5 million people access to water.

…It is a huge input into the water sector. If I add up what will be in rural water which amounts to about 1.2 million people, you can see that the government is on course to achieving the SDG 6 on Water and Sanitation by the year 2030,” she said.
      
Mrs Dapaah stressed that her job as a Minister was not to sit in the office and write only, stressing that “we always have to be in the field to see what is happening.” 

“The President cuts the sod, the contractor is on-site, and the private sector in collaboration with government starts a project. And we come to the site to make sure we appreciate what is going on and to proffer advice and appreciate also the contractors on-site,” she explained. 

She noted that the project was the third phase of a five-town water project in the Volta Region. 

She disclosed that this third phase will add on a “very important component which will cost us 11.5 million Euros and the contractors are Messers Strabag AG from Vienna Austria.”

In this regard, the minister assured that her ministry will ensure that the local content component of the contract adheres as directed by the President.

“And we make these visits and trips to these projects to make sure that the local content is executed to the letter because we need to employ local staff where we need them to work and the people in the catchment area, especially the youth, should be the beneficiaries of these jobs,” she said.

“We know what was existing previously in these catchment areas. We had water-borne and water-related diseases. But with what we are going to do that will see an increase in the water supply, we will surely eradicate all these water-borne diseases and make sure that the people have a good and healthy life,” she assured.

For phase three of these water projects, Mrs Dapaah revealed that “we will be adding 10 kilometres of mainline distributions.” 

“We are also adding 73 standpipes, and in the Adaklu District, we will create 163 standpipes and transmission lines as well as,” she further added. 

The project, she said, was scheduled to be completed in 24 months, adding that “we are holding the contractor’s feet to fire to make sure he finishes on time for His Excellency to commission the project.” 

The Volta Reginal Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, in a welcome address said water and sanitation were critical to the development of the people in the region, and Ghana as a whole.

According to him, there are several water and sanitation projects ongoing in the region. 

“The government of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is doing a lot in the Volta Region as far as water and sanitation is concerned,” he added

He described Mrs Dapaah as a “very good friend” of the region”, stating that she has paid several visits to the region already.

For his part, the Executive Chairman of Jospong Group of Companies, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, said the state-of-the-art waste treatment plant has the capacity to receive and process up to 400 tons of solid waste. 

He praised the regional minister for his “instrumental” role in organising and mobilising with the assembly to have land to build the facility on. 

“This facility belongs to the Ho Municipal Assembly, and through the minister’s assistance we had a partnership agreement with them to site this plant here,” he said. 

When completed, he disclosed that the facility will offer 80 and 150 direct and indirect jobs respectively to the people of Ho and its environs. 

The facility will serve over 500 people and the beneficiary districts are Ho Municipal Assembly, Kapndo Municipal, Ho West District, Adaklu District, South Dayi District, North Dayi District, Agortime, among others, he noted.

The plant, he said, comprised a plant occupying 5,600 square metres, a waste sorting facility, a compositing ground, medical waste treatment plant, a plastics recycling plant, a residual landfill site, an administrative block, and a workers’ bungalow. 

He used the opportunity to commend President Akufo-Addo for his government support to the private sector.

The minister is expected to inspect the Keta  Water Treatment Plant today at Agordorme in the South Tongu District.

 Alex Donkoh, Kasoa