The Northern Regional Minister Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, together with the management of JOSPONG Group of companies (JGC) and its partners, has commissioned a €20-million Tamale Wastewater Treatment plant at Gbalahi a suburb of the Sagnarigu Municipality in the Northern Region.
The €20-million Euros facility has a capacity of one thousand cubic meters per day (1000m3/day) build with a comprehensive European treatment technology with funding from the Exim Bank of Hungary. The facility is also part of waste management giant Zoomlion Ghana Limited’s Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant (IRECOP) project, established to receive, sort, process and recycle waste.
The project, which was started in 2020 and completed in 32 months, was constructed by Sewage Systems, also a subsidiary of the JGC.
Paramount chief of Nanton traditional area Naa Bawa Fuseini, was the chairman of the event, which attracted many stakeholders with interest in sanitation including Managing Director Sewage Systems Ghana Limited (SSGL), staffs of Jospong Group of Companies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Hungary, officials of the Northern Regional Coordinating Council, Divisional Chiefs among others.
The facility comprises a solid waste plant, a restaurant, washrooms, a cafeteria, an administration block, a conference hall and other auxiliary facilities.
It is intended to provide a sustainable solution for managing liquid waste within the greater Tamale and its environs in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner, using a comprehensive European treatment technology. It will process solid waste into reusable materials such as compost, plastics, metals, paper, among other items, with the by-product being used as organic fertilizer.
In addition, it will also serve as a research hub for educational institutions within and outside the greater Tamale. The facility is expected to generate over 300 direct and in direct job opportunities to both technicians and non-technicians.
The Executive Chairman of the JOSPONG Group of companies (JGC), Mr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, whose address was read on his behalf expressed his profound gratitude to the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akoffu Addo for his passionate commitment in supporting the private sector as partners to the national developmental agenda.
He said the commission of the Tamale wastewater treatment plant was aimed at complementing the government’s vision of creating a proper waste management system across the country. Mr Agyepong commended the chiefs and other traditional rulers of Gbalahi for offering the land for the project.
In his keynote address, the Northern Regional Minister Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu says the commission of the project will significantly improve the rate of dumping faecal sludge within the greater Tamale.
“I am very optimistic that there will be a reduction in the level of contaminated water, improvement in the living conditions of inhabitants, increase living standards and improvement in the general health and wellbeing of the people of Tamale and its environs”, he said.
He commended the Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group and Zoomlion for their continuous commitment in complementing Government efforts towards ensuring that Ghana achieves sustainability in the environmental sanitation sector.
In his remarks, the paramount chief of Nanton traditional area, Naa Bawa Fuseini, thanked the government and its partners for coming out with such a facility to address sanitation issues in the region.
He also calls on management of Zoomlion to address the continued pollution of water bodies and invasion flies at the communities close to the landfill site.
Story By: Alhassan Yakubu |www.diamondfmonline.com |Ghana.
