IDE Ghana donates PPEs to vacuum truck operators in Tamale

November 13, 2026

2 minutes read

Mrs Hilda Alhassan presenting the items to Wiafe Akenten Oduro

INTERNATIONAL Development Enterprises (IDE Ghana), in partnership with the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TaMA), has donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to vacuum truck operators in Tamale as part of activities marking this year’s World Toilet Day celebration.

The donation, made through IDE Ghana’s Pit Emptying Services Project, is aimed at improving the health and safety of operators who are routinely exposed to sewage, faecal matter and other potentially hazardous materials in the discharge of their duties.

The items presented included safety helmets, hand gloves, nose masks, liquid soap, safety boots, knapsack sprayers, overalls and disinfectants.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony here yesterday, the Director of the Waste Management Department of the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly, Wiafe Akenten Oduro, expressed appreciation to IDE Ghana for the partnership, describing the intervention as an important contribution towards protecting sanitation workers.

He said the equipment would go a long way towards improving the safety of vacuum truck operators and supporting them to undertake their responsibilities under safer working conditions.

The Acting Country Director of IDE Ghana, Alhassan Hilda Wunniche, noted that the organisation had identified several challenges associated with the dislodging and disposal of faecal waste, particularly the health and safety risks confronting operators.

She explained that the initiative was designed to address some of these challenges through the provision of protective equipment to the assembly and vacuum truck operators, while promoting improved pit-emptying services and the safe dislodging and disposal of faecal waste.

Haruna Kaleem, owner of Harry Waste Vacuum Truck Operations and Chairman of the Liquid Waste Service Providers, also welcomed the donation, acknowledging that although service providers had a responsibility to provide protective equipment for their workers, occupational health and safety required collective commitment.

He thanked IDE Ghana and the assembly for the support and pledged that the operators would ensure the items were put to proper use.

“We pledge to use them as appropriately as possible so that all of us will get the benefit of this assignment,” he said.

Another beneficiary, Osman Hamdaway, a vacuum truck operator with Sewerage System Ghana Limited, expressed gratitude to IDE Ghana for the intervention.

He outlined some of the difficulties operators encounter in carrying out their duties and noted that the provision of PPE would help reduce their exposure to occupational hazards and improve their working conditions.

FROM GEOFFREY BUTA, TAMALE

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