We’ll bid for gov’t sweepers contract again if… – Zoomlion

Zoomlion Ghana Limited has expressed its readiness and intention to re-enter the bidding process for government sanitation contracts—specifically for the engagement of sweepers—once a competitive tender is officially opened.

This was disclosed by Zoomlion’s Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications, Emma Adwoa Appiaa Osei-Duah, during an interview on JoyFM’s Super Morning Show on Monday, June 16.

Her comments follow the recent presidential directive confirming the non-renewal of Zoomlion’s Youth Employment Agency (YEA) sanitation module contract, which officially ended in September 2024.

The government has also stated that it will increase the fees paid to sweepers, citing “probable cost savings” from discontinuing the Zoomlion contract. Additionally, it indicated that future sanitation contracts will be awarded through a competitive procurement process, focusing on regional or district-based tenders.

“I am a contractor; you bring me in to sign a contract to manage this or that job,” Osei-Duah explained, emphasising Zoomlion’s role as a service provider. “I will not know the jurisdiction of whoever is seated there when it is signed. I expect that the officers in charge of that assignment know that this one does that and that one does that to manage the contractor.”

Her comments underscore the company’s readiness to participate in the new competitive framework, while also stressing the importance of effective contract supervision by state agencies.

Osei-Duah highlighted Zoomlion’s substantial investment in waste management infrastructure across Ghana. She noted that the company operates “recycling companies” in every region, referencing facilities such as the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant (ACARP) and the Kumasi Compost Plant, which also includes a major wastewater treatment plant.

She added that some of these facilities handle medical waste and were conceived to address the growing scarcity of land for engineered landfills.

“It is supposed to happen that every municipality has an engineered landfill for waste management, and land is getting scarce,” she said. For instance, she noted that Accra’s MMDAs now largely send waste to Adipa in the Nsawam area due to the limitations of local dumps and the premature overuse of the Tema landfill.

Osei-Duah explained that the recycling plants aim to give “fractions of the waste a second life” and reduce the volume going to landfills, thereby prolonging their operational lifespan. Given that organic waste constitutes about 40% of Ghana’s estimated 3,000 tons of daily waste, Zoomlion set up compost plants to process it into compost. Plastics are pelletized and turned into “useful products like buckets,” she added.