Waste disposal activities continue unabated at the Kpone Landfill Site, despite repeated warnings by authorities that the facility has reached full capacity and is due for closure.
The continued use of the site comes more than a month after the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Ahmed Ibrahim, directed its closure.
Mr Ibrahim, on a working visit to the site on February 24, 2026, ordered that the facility be shut down within 30 days to avert a possible public health crisis.
“We have only one month to shut down the site. We are sitting on a ticking time bomb. We are behind time,” the Minister cautioned at the time.
However, a visit to the site by The Ghanaian Times yesterday revealed that tricycles and refuse trucks were still trooping to the site to dump waste, with operations ongoing as though no directive for closure had been issued.
This reporter also observed site managers at the facility overseeing the dumping by the arriving trucks and tricycles.
The situation raises fresh concerns about sanitation management in the Greater Accra Region, particularly in Tema, Ashaiman, and adjoining districts that rely heavily on the facility for waste disposal.
When contacted, officials from the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs could not respond to The Ghanaian Times’ enquiries on why dumping activities were still ongoing and what interim measures had been put in place ahead of the closure.
With an estimated lifespan of 33 years, the Kpone landfill, which was commissioned in 1996 and originally intended to serve only the Tema Municipality, has long outlived its capacity as it now serves several adjoining districts, contributing to its rapid deterioration.
Earlier warnings by the Minister indicated that a shutdown without immediate alternatives could lead to refuse piling up in communities, markets, and drainage systems, thereby increasing the risk of disease outbreaks such as cholera and malaria.
He, therefore, directed all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives in the region to submit proposals on urgent and sustainable waste management solutions for consideration by government.
However, with dumping still ongoing at the site after the Minister’s directive, and no clear public update on alternative arrangements, concerns persist over how authorities intend to manage waste should the landfill be closed suddenly.
FROM KEN AFEDZI, KPONE AND STEPHANIE BIRIKORANG
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