The government has announced ambitious plans to redevelop the sprawling slum along the Korle Lagoon into high-rise container housing, marking a major intervention to tackle the capital’s chronic sanitation crisis and improve public health conditions in the area.
Local Government Minister Mahama Ayariga revealed the proposal during a site visit, stating that the transformation would follow a military-led evacuation and clearing of the dumpsite, which has accumulated waste for over three decades.
The accumulated waste from the lagoon and surrounding areas in Jamestown will be transported to the Adepa Waste Management Centre at Nsawam in the Eastern Region.
The 200-acre engineered landfill facility, operated by the Jospong Group, has the capacity to receive over 3,000 tonnes of waste daily and operates around the clock.
“We called Dr. Siaw Agyepong and discussed it with him, and he indicated that the Adipa landfill site is available,” Ayariga said, referring to the Jospong Group CEO.
“So, if we can mobilise the trucks and equipment, we can cart all the waste out from Jamestown and bring it to this location”.
The facility currently processes between 1,500 and 1,700 tonnes of waste daily, with Site Manager Richard Omani-Mensah confirming sufficient capacity to handle the additional influx from Accra.
The project will also involve dredging the Korle Lagoon to improve sanitary conditions and address longstanding environmental challenges affecting the area.
The intervention follows a directive from President John Dramani Mahama to clear the backlog of waste that has accumulated around the lagoon for over 30 years.
To prevent the cleared areas from becoming dumping grounds again, the government plans to deploy military personnel to secure the site.
“Because if we don’t put soldiers to supervise and secure the areas that have been cleared, people will go back and dump there again,” Ayariga explained.
The minister acknowledged that the clearing exercise could face resistance from some residents but expressed confidence that the majority of the public would back the initiative.
“Those of us who want to clear it in Accra here, we are far more than those who want to resist clearing the mess,” he declared.
The government is engaging contractors to support the exercise with heavy-duty equipment, with plans to coordinate weekend operations to minimise disruption to traffic.
Selected roads may be temporarily closed during the evacuation, with waste trucks operating under police protection to ensure speedy completion.
The redevelopment forms part of broader efforts to address Accra’s sanitation challenges and transform heavily polluted areas of the capital into more organised development spaces.
