The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has earmarked a new dumpsite at Nsumia in the Ga West Municipality in Accra.

The new site, which has been engineered to contain refuse for the next two years, is to replace the closed Pantang landfill site.

Pantang Site
The EPA last month shut down the Pantang landfill site near Abokobi to address the health and environmental concerns the dumpsite posed to residents of Pantang and other communities in the Ga East Municipality.

Even though the site has been shut down officially, dumping of refuse is still active there. The assembly had pleaded for more time to find an alternative place to dispose of its waste.

That aside, the  EPA has also received a request from the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development to give the Ga East  Assembly sometime to look for a new place.

EPA
However, Mr Kwabena Badu-Yeboah, the Accra Region Director of the EPA, told the Daily Graphic that the agency would not allow the Pantang site to operate again.

“Since we are about to give Ga West permit  very soon, we are not going to allow them to continue dumping refuse there, because they did not manage the place well.  There is no buffer, there is a hospital nearby, and they set fire to the place…this poses health risk to the general public,” he said.

The new site
The new site was an area where boulders and gravel were taken from during the construction of the Accra-Nsawam road in the 1970s. This led to some huge pits left behind after the construction.

Mr Badu-Yeboah said the place had been engineered with pipes fitted to trap gas, as well as other safety measures that would ensure that public health was not compromised.

He said the need to fill the site was urgent as its present state posed danger and health risks to humans and animals, particularly the communities that were expanding towards that area.

He, however, gave an assurance that even though the facilities at the Nsumia site were far better than those in areas including Pantang and Mallam, the new site would be closely monitored to safeguard public safety.

Daily Graphic