The Adentan Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Ebenezer Doku, has cautioned members of the Borla Taxi and Tricycle Association (BTTA) to operate within the sanitation Bye- Laws in order to protect the environment, or have their operating permits revoked.
He expressed the need for them to strictly observe traffic regulations, avoid overload to spill the contents on the road, and also off load at designated points instead of dumping at isolated places to cause public nuisance.
The MCE made the remarks at the inauguration of the Adentan Municipal chapter of the Informal Waste Collectors Association last Friday at the assembly premises.
The members, numbering about 600 are mandated to undertake house- to- house refuse collection paid for by the residents, and later offload at designated points.
The project formed part of the Greater Accra Resilience and Integrated Development (GARID) initiative to unionise the group towards improving sanitation in the region.
The members were also presented with their operational permits and the sanitation Bye-laws as well as Personal Protective Equipment ( PPEs), including googles, hand gloves, Wellington boot and helmets to aid in their activities.
Mr Doku indicated that his outfit had received several complaints of unprofessional conduct of some collectors who over load their tricycles, in the process spill their contents all over the place, while others under the cover of darkness, dump their load anywhere they get which goes to block major drains in the area.
These acts, he explained would not be countenanced because they were supposed to help address a situation confronting not only the municipality, but the whole country, as such anything short of maintaining the highest hygiene practices would not be accepted.
“You volunteered to be part of an organisation that promises to protect the environment and make it habitable as such much is expected of you to execute the job perfectly,” he added.
Mr Doku commended GARIC for the “guidance and support” for the municipality to maintain the top spot on the assembly sanitation league table and assured that everything possible would be done to improve upon that feat.
The Waste Management Specialist at the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, Dr Henrietta Osei-Tutu, said the Ministry decided to bring all tricycle waste operators under one umbrella to monitor their activities to track those who pollute the environment.
Dr Osei-Tutu stated that the operations of the BTTA had been hailed as a success, hence the desire to officially recognise them to help improve on sanitation in the municipality, while the PPEs were to protect and aid in their activities.
She urged the members to adopt strict maintenance culture for the equipment they use to offer effective services to the people.
The Municipal Environmental Officer, Andrew Nii Akpae Aborhey, said they would build the capacities of the collectors in handling sanitation issues for effective and efficient service delivery.
The Chair of the group, Kwame Forster Ayanga, said the inauguration would help monitor activities of members and anyone caught flouting the sanitation Bye- laws would be sanctioned.
“That is why members now wear uniforms signifying their areas of operation for easy identification,” he added.
BY LAWRENCE VOMAFA-AKPALU.
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