By Emmanuel Gamson
Bogoso (W/R), April 28, GNA – Mr John Oti Bless, the Chairman for the Parliamentary Select Committee on Sanitation and Water Resources, has expressed displeasure about the performance of Zoomlion Ghana Limited in the provision and lifting of waste containers within Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) across the country.
According to him, though the company’s Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant (IRECOP) was a good initiative in waste management, their performance in the provision of fumigation services, and Sanitation Improvement Packages (SIP) in MMDAs were poor.
He said this in an interview with journalists after the Committee engaged officials of the Prestea-Huni Valley Municipal Assembly to assess the state of sanitation and waste management issues in the area.
It formed part of the Committee’s parliamentary oversight responsibilities to gain first-hand knowledge on matters relating to water and sanitation within MMDAs across the country, and put in place strategies to improve upon such issues.
Mr Oti Bless, also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nkwanta North, said: “As the Chairman of this Committee, I will continue to say that for Zoomlion when it comes to their IRECOP, it is a very good idea and they are doing very well in that regard.
“But with the issue of the provision of SIP, and skip containers and lifting, their performance is nothing to write home about, and the fumigation is not being done across about 95 per cent of MMDAs in country.”
He, however, said the Committee would do everything in its power to ensure Zoomlion lived up to the task to help improve upon the sanitation situation within the country.
“I think that something ought to be done and our committee, representing the poor taxpayer will ensure that the right thing is done,” the Chairman added.
Touching on water challenges, Mr Oti Bless said the Committee had observed that access to potable water for some communities in the Western Region and other parts of the country was a serious problem that needed attention.
He said the Committee would include their observations in their final report to be submitted to Parliament for action, saying; “This is going to be one of the critical issues that we will be looking at as a committee to find a way out to solve.”
The Chairman reiterated the Committee’s resolve to execute its mandates to tackle sanitation and water challenges to help ensure improved environmental health conditions in the country.
GNA
Edited by Justina Hilda Paaga/Lydia Kukua Asamoah