The government is set to embark on a major exercise to evacuate decades-old heaps of waste at Jamestown in Accra, with plans underway to transport the refuse to the Adipa Waste Management Center in Nsawam for disposal, the Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, has revealed.
Ayariga made the disclosure when he inspected the Adipa Waste Management Center on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, to assess its capacity to receive the massive volumes of waste expected to be removed from Jamestown.
According to him, the government has already received positive indications from a number of major contractors who are willing to support the exercise by providing heavy-duty equipment and logistics, largely at no cost to the state. Contractors expected to participate include First Sky and other local and international construction firms.
“We have a number of contractors who are willing and ready to evacuate the waste for us,” Ayariga said, adding that the government would convene a meeting with all the major contractors to secure their support for the operation. The contractors are expected to deploy bulldozers, excavators, trucks and other heavy machinery, together with operators and drivers, to facilitate the waste evacuation exercise.
The immediate-past Majority Leader disclosed that some contractors had even expressed willingness to fuel their own equipment for the operation as part of their corporate social responsibility commitments. He explained that government intended to publicly acknowledge participating companies to encourage private-sector involvement in addressing environmental challenges.
He said the operation would be executed in collaboration with several ministries, including the Ministries of Defence, Finance, Roads and Highways, and Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs. Security agencies, particularly the military and police, would be deployed to supervise traffic management and ensure the smooth movement of trucks between Jamestown and the Adipa facility.
“We will have the military to supervise the exercise to ensure that the roads are decongested for a smooth evacuation exercise,” he stated, noting that specific routes could be temporarily restricted to allow uninterrupted transportation of waste to the landfill site. Col. Assia is expected to lead the operation from the military side.
The Jamestown waste heap, situated near the heavily polluted Korle Lagoon, has accumulated over several decades and is regarded as one of Accra’s most visible sanitation challenges. The refuse mound has grown from years of indiscriminate dumping and waste washed through the Odaw drainage system into the lagoon area. Successive clean-up efforts have failed to completely eliminate the problem, making the planned evacuation one of the most ambitious waste clearance operations undertaken in the capital in recent years.
Ayariga commenting further revealed that President John Dramani Mahama would be present when the evacuation exercise officially begins and would provide updates on any commitment the government may make towards the operation. As part of the inspection, Mr Ayariga suggested that the road leading to the landfill site should be graded and levelled to facilitate the movement of the trucks.
Providing details on the facility’s capability, Site Engineer of the Adipa Waste Management Center, Ing. Richard Omane Mensah, assured the delegation that the landfill has more than sufficient capacity to accommodate the waste.
“This site has the capacity to receive about 3,000 tons of waste a day. Currently, we receive between 1,500 and 1,600 tons daily, so we can receive more when the trucks come.”
Ing. Mensah explained that the facility operates 24 hours a day and already handles between 800 and 900 tons of waste at night, in addition to 700 to 800 tons during daytime operations. He indicated that the landfill has over 200 acres of developed cells, with additional cells being constructed to accommodate future waste disposal needs.
He also disclosed that the facility could continue operating for the next 50 years, citing the availability of land and ongoing expansion efforts. According to him, locating such a large landfill within the Greater Accra Region would be difficult due to urban development pressures, making the Nsawam site strategically important for waste management in the capital and surrounding areas.
The engineer further highlighted the facility’s operational capacity, including the use of bulldozers, excavators, compactors and tower lights for night operations. He noted that the site had previously received large volumes of waste from Accra during periods of flooding, demonstrating its ability to handle emergency waste disposal situations.
On environmental sustainability, Ing. Mensah said more than 200 waste pickers currently work at the landfill, manually sorting recyclable materials for resale. The process, he explained, helps reduce the volume of waste deposited and extends the lifespan of the landfill. The facility also operates waste crushers to process recyclable materials for the market.
The planned evacuation of the longstanding waste heaps at Jamestown is expected to significantly improve sanitation conditions in the area while showcasing a collaborative effort between government, the private sector and security agencies to tackle one of the capital’s persistent environmental challenges.
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