The Founder and Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies, Joseph Siaw Agyepong, has called for the strict enforcement of sanitation bylaws, arguing that Ghana’s quest for cleaner communities will fail unless authorities consistently punish illegal waste disposal.
Speaking during the first day of the National Cleaning Exercise on Friday, July 10, Mr Siaw Agyepong said the nationwide sanitation campaign must go beyond periodic clean-up exercises and be supported by effective enforcement of existing regulations.
“It must be enforced; the laws must be enforced,” he stated.
“We are going to support the government to ensure the enforcement of bylaws, to ensure that people do the right thing.”
His remarks come as government rolls out a two-day nationwide clean-up exercise following the devastating June 29 floods, which affected large parts of Accra and other regions, exposing persistent challenges in waste management and environmental sanitation.
Mr Siaw Agyepong identified indiscriminate dumping of refuse as one of the major obstacles to maintaining clean communities, blaming weak enforcement and poor supervision at some waste collection sites.
He explained that waste collection points established for market traders are increasingly being used by commercial tricycle operators, popularly known as aboboyaa operators, who dump refuse there instead of transporting it to designated transfer stations.
“The aboboyaa people come and dump here, and then they collect money. They are not supposed to dump here; they are supposed to go to a transfer station,” he said.
He further alleged that some attendants at refuse container sites accept money from waste transporters and allow the illegal dumping to continue, contrary to sanitation regulations.
According to him, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) must strengthen monitoring and ensure that only authorised users dispose of waste at designated collection points.
“What do you expect the assembly to do? Immediately, the assembly must ensure that the container attendant… only the market people bring their waste here. Apart from them, nobody should bring waste here,” he stressed.
Mr Siaw Agyepong also praised President John Dramani Mahama for initiating the National Cleaning Exercise, describing the campaign as a bold demonstration of leadership in addressing Ghana’s sanitation challenges.
“Every country is the leader that leads, and then sanitation helps,” he said. “President Mahama is leading a very good cause, and we have to appreciate him for the bold step of leadership.”
While welcoming government’s plans to revive waste transfer stations, he maintained that improving waste management infrastructure alone would not solve the country’s sanitation problems without sustained enforcement of environmental laws and greater public compliance.
