Achimota Transfer Station Reopens as Government and Zoomlion Move to Contain Post-Flood Sanitation Crisis in Accra

The Achimota-Abofu Transfer Station in Accra has been reopened following a joint intervention by the government and Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of the Jospong Group, as authorities scramble to address a sanitation emergency triggered by recent flooding across the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area.

Local Government Minister Ahmed Ibrahim made the announcement during a working visit to the facility on Friday, 26 June 2026, where he inspected operations and outlined both immediate and long-term steps to improve waste management in the capital. He acknowledged the role of the 48 Engineers Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces, National Security Coordinator Stan Dogbe, and Jospong Group Executive Chairman Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong in supporting the government's response.

Mr Ibrahim explained that the floods had inundated several landfill sites, leaving close to 3,000 tricycle waste collectors — commonly known as aboboyaa riders — with nowhere to legally deposit the refuse they gather from homes and businesses. The reopened transfer station now serves as a temporary relief point where these collectors can offload waste, which is then transported by larger trucks to treatment and disposal facilities.

The minister also raised concerns about the financial sustainability of transfer stations, noting that high user fees have pushed many informal collectors towards unauthorised dumping sites. He warned that this practice worsens environmental pollution, particularly when floodwaters carry waste into communities such as Dansoman. He called for a new operational framework developed in consultation with waste collectors, transfer station operators, and private waste companies.

Dr Siaw Agyepong revealed that the Achimota Transfer Station was originally built in 2015 following a study tour of Turkey led by then-President John Dramani Mahama, but operations collapsed when an expected government subsidy failed to materialise. He urged the state to treat sanitation as a public good, pointing to China and Turkey as examples of governments that heavily subsidise waste transfer infrastructure to protect public health.

Dr Siaw Agyepong also highlighted Ghana's growing influence in African waste management, noting that Zoomlion now operates around 45 treatment facilities nationwide — covering solid, liquid, medical, and hazardous waste — and has deployed trained Ghanaian professionals to support sanitation work in Kenya, Liberia, and Nigeria, among other countries.