Waste management firm, Jekora Ventures,
has schooled traders at the Novotel market at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle on waste segregation.
The aim of the training is to support the achievement of a clean Accra as envisaged by President Nana Akufo-Addo.
The company supplied dustbins to the traders to assist them in waste segregation.
The bins are also to discourage them from dumping rubbish in drains.
The Innovations Manager of Jekora Ventures Limited, Martha Adjoa Annan, observed that the company partnered the market women to commence the implementation of waste segregation in market areas.
According to her, “this is the first of its kind in the whole country where market women will separate their waste at source.”
She explained that the company started the waste segregation and recycling programme in 2013 but initially enrolled it in corporate institutions and schools, adding that it was time to add market women to the programme.
“The market centre was chosen knowing very well the important role market women play in the generation of waste especially organic waste,” Madam Annan indicated.
According to her, considering the waste characterisation by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), it could be realised that 60 per cent of the waste was organic waste, hence the need to inform stakeholders towards adopting a holistic approach in managing waste challenges.
The Environmental Health Officer for Korley Klottey Municipal Assembly, Eunice Arku Esenam, observed the need for people to desist from dumping refuse in gutters and keep the surroundings clean.
She admonished the market women and the public to adopt and maintain good environmental practices to avert any disaster associated with poor sanitary conditions.
Madam Esenam explained that “as a new assembly, we’re putting a lot of things in place to improve sanitation in Korley Klottey.”
Meanwhile, Samuel Nii Armah Turkson, the Administrative Manager of the Novotel Market Traders Association, urged government to engage more private sector operators in waste management to fast-track the clean Accra agenda
