The Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business, Mr Mahama Ayariga, has proposed the adoption of a property rate system by the government to address the growing sanitation and waste management challenges across the country.
The property rate is an annual charge on real estate, including houses, land, and buildings, collected by local governments to fund public services such as waste management, education, and infrastructure.
Mr Ayariga raised the issue during a debate on sanitation in Parliament following the presentation of a report by the Committee on Water and Sanitation. He cited the capital city as an example, highlighting that while it generates 4,000 tonnes of waste daily, it has the capacity to process only 2,000 tonnes, leaving the remainder unmanaged.
“Mr Speaker, this is a national crisis, and we must act decisively,” he said, stressing that current allocations from the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF), though significant, were insufficient for proper sanitation management at the local level.
As Chairperson of the Independent Constitutional Bodies Committee, Mr Ayariga noted petitions pointing to past DACF allocations specifically for sanitation. However, under the current government’s arrangement, 80% of DACF funds are directly allocated to MMDAs, reducing flexibility to fund sanitation initiatives at the local level.
He argued that adopting a property rate system would provide sustainable financing for sanitation, ensuring that waste management resources are fairly distributed across both urban and rural districts.
“The bulk of the DACF currently goes to urban cities, which is unfair to other MMDAs. A property rate system would address this imbalance and strengthen local sanitation management,” Mr Ayariga added.
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
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