On Thursday, September 3, 2026, Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs Mahama Ayariga unveiled a multi‑agency plan to address the growing waste problem at Jamestown, Accra. The briefing, held at the Jamestown Waste Transfer Station, followed a three‑day inspection tour that included the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant, Jamestown and Achimota Waste Transfer Stations, Kpone Landfill and the Adipa Engineered Landfill at Nsawam.
During the session, the minister said the government would bring together the Ministries of Local Government, Roads and Highways, Defence, Finance and Environment to marshal the necessary resources for the evacuation exercise. He added that contractors from the Greater Accra, Eastern and Central regions would be engaged to provide trucks, excavators, bulldozers and loaders, especially equipment that may currently be idle on construction sites.
"We see this from afar. We drive by; we really have no sense of the enormity of the challenge," Ayariga stated. He noted that the state already owns over 100 trucks and several pieces of heavy machinery that could be complemented by private‑sector resources. Technical teams from Zoomlion Ghana Limited are also deploying drones to survey the Jamestown site and determine the volume of accumulated waste. The assessment will help establish the number of trucks and trips required, as well as the expected duration of the evacuation exercise.
The operation will be guided by technical data rather than estimates, enabling contractors to commit to specific evacuation quotas. Beyond construction firms, the government plans to approach mining companies and major industries to contribute through corporate social responsibility programmes, either by deploying their own equipment or hiring contractors to remove agreed waste quantities, rather than making cash donations.
Earlier this week, the government announced that Jamestown’s waste could be transported to the Adipa engineered landfill at Nsawam, which has substantial remaining capacity. Ayariga emphasised that the response was not merely about removal; there is an urgent need to address the root causes of accumulation, improve community organisation and overhaul waste management systems to prevent recurrence.
He also outlined plans to redevelop the Jamestown area after clearance, without displacing residents, proposing low‑cost and high‑rise housing alongside roads, sanitation facilities and basic infrastructure, while keeping residents near their livelihoods. The broader aim, he said, was to prove Ghana can confront longstanding sanitation challenges and tackle their underlying causes. From a public health perspective, clearing the waste would free up resources currently spent on treating sanitation‑related illnesses, redirecting them toward prevention.
The Defence Ministry has already formed a support team and further decisions will follow President John Dramani Mahama’s return from international engagements. The push builds on Ayariga’s earlier call for a comprehensive review of Ghana’s waste management chain, following his September 1 tour where he identified gaps in collection, transport, treatment, recycling and disposal. The current assessment will inform both the immediate evacuation and longer‑term sector reforms.
While the operation’s scale and duration depend on ongoing technical evaluations, the minister affirmed the government’s resolve to marshal national capacity and partner with public and private entities to meet the challenge. He urged the public and media to support the national sanitation agenda by participating in the first‑Saturday cleanup exercise and maintaining cleaner surroundings year‑round.
