The Environmental Services Providers Association (ESPA), has appealed to the government to pay outstanding debts owed them and review the National Sanitation and Pollution Levy to safeguard Ghana’s waste management services infrastructure.
ESPA is a coalition of private waste management companies in Ghana, working in partnership with government and local authorities to promote efficient, sustainable, and inclusive environmental services for all.
Addressing a news conference in Accra yesterday, the Executive Secretary of ESPA, Ms Ama Ofori Antwi, said some of their companies have not been paid for about two to three years.
She said service providers who have borrowed from banks, creditors, suppliers, and other partners to sustain operations over the years find themselves in positions where such support had ceased, and in most cases, been threatened with court action.
Ms Antwi warned that if expedited action was not taken to salvage the situation, several landfills and treatment facilities across the country might face imminent shutdown.
According to her, such closure would not only disrupt waste collection services, but also result in a public health crisis as well as threaten thousands of jobs.
“Ghana’s waste management sector is faced with an alarming state of operational and financial distress of which members of ESPA are not left out,” she said.
“The situation has been further compounded by the lack of access to functional treatment and disposal sites, many of which are in deteriorated condition due to poor maintenance,” she added.
On policy review on the Sanitation and Pollution Levy, she said there had been an absence of a dedicated budgetary allocation for waste management over the years, calling on the government to dedicate funds to support and sustain the existing waste management infrastructure.
Ms Antwi further asked that Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) review the current fixed cost recovery rates paid to waste collectors, transporters, and transfer station operators to ensure that the fee was properly gazetted.
She explained that this stems from the fact that the existing rates have become economically unsustainable, rendering operations unprofitable for many members.
“A fair and realistic adjustment is essential to ensure business viability and the continued provision of effective sanitation services across the country,” she pointed out.
“If immediate government attention and intervention are not provided, these compounded challenges could cripple Ghana’s waste management system in a few days’ time, reversing years of progress made in keeping our cities clean and protecting public health and the environment,” she warned.
She said the Association has engaged with the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Religious Affairs, as well as relevant Parliamentary Committees, to facilitate payment to their members.
Unfortunately, she noted that these efforts have yielded little progress.
In light of the above, Madam Ofori Antwi asked the government to expedite the release of all pending payments to ESPA members through the Ministry of Finance by the stipulated time.
She also called for a policy review of the Sanitation and Pollution Levy as a dedicated fund to support and sustain the existing waste management infrastructure.
While urging the government to act on their concerns with a sense of urgency, Madam Ofori Antwi emphasised that ESPA fully supported President John Dramani Mahama’s re-launch of the National Sanitation Day.
BY CYNTHIA ASAMPANA
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The post Settle outstanding arrears – ESPA urges govt appeared first on Ghanaian Times.
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