The government plans to deploy the military to secure the Jamestown Transfer Station after the accumulated waste at the site is evacuated, Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, has announced.
Mr Ayariga said the military will take responsibility for protecting the area once the waste has been removed to prevent the site from being used for dumping again.
He said the military will also help prevent squatters from returning to the cleared land and recreating the conditions that contributed to the sanitation problem.
“After we’ve moved it out of the Jamestown area, the military will take responsibility for protecting that area and making sure that we don’t bring back waste and also squatters don’t stay on the land that we have cleared and create mess again for us,” he said.
The announcement comes as government begins a detailed assessment of the waste at Jamestown and the landfill where it is expected to be deposited.
Mr Ayariga said authorities are assessing the capacity of the receiving landfill and the distance between the two locations to determine the logistics required for the evacuation.
This includes calculating the number of trucks, trips and amount of fuel needed to transport the waste.
He said the Ministries of Defence, Roads and Highways, and Finance will be involved in the exercise, with the Roads and Highways Ministry expected to provide equipment.
According to Mr Ayariga, clearing the waste from Jamestown will only be effective if the area is protected afterwards.
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