The Accra-Tema Motorway is fast losing its environmental attractions as some tricycle operators carting refuse from various parts of Accra to the Kpone Landfill site have resorted to dumping waste at unauthorised places along the stretch.

Built in 1964, the 19-km motorway, with its breath-taking landscape, is gradually losing its beauty as the tricycle riders offload their garbage, gradually turning portions of the motorway into a dump site.

“In view of this deplorable development, which is worsening by the day, the  TMA would like to inform owners and operators of such tricycles that they are no longer permitted to transport refuse from their various locations across the Accra-Tema Motorway to the TMA landfill site,” the Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Felix Mensah Nii Anang-La, warned when he spoke to the Daily Graphic.

He said to ensure the effective enforcement of the directive, the Ghana Highway Authority had been asked to alert its agents at the toll booths on the motorway to prevent such unauthorised tricycles from accessing the motorway if they were loaded with garbage.

He stressed that any operator found culpable would have his tricycle impounded and also face possible legal action.

Serious view

Mr Anang-La said the TMA took a serious view of the manner in which operators of tricycles were consistently littering the motorway.

According to him, the unfortunate practice did not only mar the beauty of the motorway but also cost the assembly huge sums of money to clear the filth from the highway.

He advised operators of tricycles to rather transport the refuse to the various refuse transfer stations or central collection points within their respective districts or municipalities for onward transportation to the landfill site with the appropriate refuse haulage trucks.

Bad activities

The tricycle operators, instead of riding all the way to the Kpone Landfill site, usually tips over at the roadside under the cover of darkness.

They usually operate at dawn, and after lifting their rubbish from residents for a fee, they end up emptying their load along the motorway.

The absence of street lights on the expressway has further emboldened the riders to carry out their nefarious activities.

Public anger

Some commuters who spoke to the Daily Graphic called for action from the relevant bodies to halt the negative activities.

The Protocol and Administrative Officer at the Tema Development Corporation (TDC), Mr Ian Okwei, called for a ban on the use of tricycles for transferring waste to the landfill site.

He said the activities of tricycle operators who carried waste from Accra to the Kpone Landfill site via the motorway were counter-productive.

He said most of the tricycle operators dumped their refuse on the sides of the motorway to avoid paying dumping fees at the Kpone Landfill site.

“These tricycles, apart from littering the motorway, also cause traffic congestion on the motorway,” he said.

Mr Okwei called on assemblies along the motorway to deploy sanitation officers to arrest those who flouted the law.