General Manager of Savannah Waste Management Services Limited, Mr. Peter Dawuni has assured potential clients to subscribe for ready delivery of waste bins to their doorsteps to help improve the waste management status and health of the people of Tamale and its environs.
Savannah Waste Management Services is a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies and Zoomlion Ghana Limited.
Mr. Dawuni was speaking at a stakeholders dialogue forum organised by Zoomlion and Graphic Communications Group. The Zoomlion and Graphic collaboration is an effort to help create intensified awareness about best environmental sanitation and waste management practices at the regions.
The dialogue drew experts from the Ghana Health Service, the chieftaincy institution, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) the media and all the security institutions who advanced expert advice to Zoomlion and the MMDAs as to how best to tackle the bad attitudes of Ghanaians against best waste management practices.
Mr. Aawuni told the participants that Zoomlion produces the waste bins here in Ghana using the plastics it collects as waste and announced that his region has recieved thousands of new waste bins and they are currently using business development officers who move from house-house to encourage people to subscribe to their bins and therefore see no reason why a client should have difficulty in getting the bin.
He said the company is making concerted effort to ensure that the environment is kept as clean as possible and appealed to Ghanaians to also help the company by collecting the bins which they will use to store their waste for onward collection. He said the new waste bins have micro sim devices in them that will signal the office if it has not been picked at the right them when it is full.
A Senior Communications Speciliast of Zoomlion at the Head Quarters,
Mohammed Mahama Adams who made a presentation about the progress the company has made so far disclosed that Zoomlion is currently doing full time medical waste management using the autoclave mechanism and is installing similar facilities at all its 16 waste recycling plants it is establishing in the regions to ensure that a 360 degree robust waste management system is implemented across Ghana.
He said his outfit has also intensified fumigation and disinfection of viruses and insects with state- of -the -art equipment and urged Ghanaians to patronise their services.
The Tamale Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Yeboah Afari bitterly complained about the attitude of Ghanaians and assure the people of Tamale that the police may soon be left with no option than to arrest for opened defaecation as the practice is becoming catastrophic to the health of the people.
He urged the chiefs and assemblies to come together with the security services to device means of curbing the menace.
A Chief Pharmacist at the Regional Health Directorate, Dr. Dominic Otchere said 90% of Out Patient Department (OPD) cases are sanitation related and that is the reason why the Zoomlion and Graphic collaboration to further inform Ghanaians about best practices was timely.
He hoped the collaboration will be sustained and more education given to keep people aware of the diseases associated with bad waste management practices.
The programme was climaxed by a massive clean up exercise with all stakeholders in the Tamale Metropolis.