Private tricycle solid waste collectors in Kumasi stranded at the Oti Landfill are threatening to dump waste at unauthorized locations over prolonged delays at the site.
The waste collectors say they have been unable to access designated dumping points for four days due to congestion and what they describe as poor management at the landfill.
The situation has left dozens of tricycles lined up at the entrance, with waste beginning to decompose in the rain.
In protest over their unresolved grievances, the frustrated collectors set tyres ablaze at the disposal site to draw urgent attention to the worsening conditions.
Chairman of the Sanitation Tricycle Riders Association, Salim Mohammed, blamed the crisis on repeated breakdowns of compacting and levelling equipment at the landfill.
According to him, the faulty machines have left waste piling up with no proper means of management.
Salim said the Kumasi Mayor, Richard Ofori Agyemang, has visited the site several times and issued directives to address the challenges and repair the broken equipment.
However, he said those assurances have yet to produce results, with conditions at the landfill continuing to deteriorate.
“The Kumasi Mayor, Richard Ofori Agyemang, came here to witness our challenges and made promises and gave directives to resolve these issues, which we appreciate. But the challenges are worsening now,” he said.
He appealed to Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to personally intervene and use his influence to ensure urgent action is taken to reduce congestion at the landfill.
Salim stressed that the worsening situation poses serious environmental and health risks to nearby communities and believes only the Asantehene’s intervention can compel authorities to act swiftly.
“Asantehene, you are our last hope. We are pleading for new equipment at the Oti Landfill and sufficient land to contain the waste so tricycle operators can work without these constant challenges. We are suffering,” he said as he and his members knelt.
Meanwhile, another waste collector, Baffour Bempah, warned that operators would be forced to dump waste at unauthorized locations around the landfill if officials fail to act.
“We have been stranded here for four days with tricycles full of decomposing waste and nowhere to offload,” he said.
He added that some operators now sleep at the site for fear their tricycles or spare parts could be stolen if left unattended.
“We have to sleep here to protect our tricycles because if you leave them here, someone may steal them. The environment is not safe for our health, and we cannot keep this up. Our communities are already choking on filth because collection has stalled. If management does nothing by close of day, we will have no choice but to offload the waste here illegally. We refuse to keep driving around the city with rotting waste while residents suffer,” he said.
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