Wednesday, 24 June 2026
Friday, 19 June 2026
Tuesday, 16 June 2026
Government hands over 1,200 desk to Ashaiman Schools (Daily Graphic Tuesday June 16,2026)
Government hands over 1,200 desks to Ashaiman schools
The
Ashaiman Municipality has received 1,200 pieces of school furniture from the
government as part of efforts to improve teaching and learning.
The support is also part of
efforts by government to eliminate the shift system in schools across the
municipality.
The furniture, which comprised
desks and chairs for both students and teachers, was officially handed over
during a ceremony held last Friday.
In attendance were the Member
of Parliament (MP) for Ashaiman, Dr Ernest Henry Norgbey; Municipal Chief
Executive (MCE) Freeman Tsekpo, and Municipal Director of Education, Gloria
Kwakuyi.
The intervention formed
part of a nationwide initiative by the government to address furniture
shortages and infrastructure challenges in schools and create a more conducive
environment for teaching and learning.
Quality education
The MP for Ashaiman Dr Ernest
Henry Norgbey speaking at the event said access to quality education remained a
priority for the government adding that the distribution of furniture was one
of the promises made to improve educational delivery across the country.
"We are all aware of the furniture challenges and infrastructure deficits that exist in many schools across Ghana. The President promised to provide furniture to schools and today that promise has been fulfilled," he said.
Dr Norgbey said the government
intended to continue supplying furniture annually to schools in order to bridge
existing deficits and support efforts to improve educational outcomes.
He urged students, teachers
and school authorities to take proper care of the furniture to ensure it serves
its purpose for many years.
He was confident that the
furniture would help reduce the shift system in some schools within the
municipality, where, he said, overcrowding and inadequate classroom facilities
have compelled pupils to attend classes in sessions.
Utilisation
The Ashaiman Municipal Chief
Executive, Freeman Tsekpo, said the furniture would immediately make it
possible to fully utilise a newly completed 12-unit classroom block at the
Ashaiman Presbyterian Basic School.
He said although the classroom
block had been completed, it could not be put into full use because furniture
was unavailable.
"With the arrival of these desks, we can furnish all the classrooms and
officially bring the shift system at this school to an end," he stated.
Mr. Tsekpo disclosed that some
of the furniture would also be sent to other schools within the municipality,
including Government Complex School.
The Municipal Director of
Education, Gloria Kwakuyi, welcomed the intervention and described it as a
major boost to efforts aimed at ending the shift system in Ashaiman.
She said four schools in the municipality still operated the shift system and
expressed the hope that continued investment in classroom infrastructure and
furniture would help eliminate the shift system completely in the municipality.
Writer's email
Diminishing landfill capacity. Rains render Kpone dumpsite inaccessible. Sanitation crisis looms (Daily Graphic, Tuesday June 16, 2026)
https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/ghana-news-diminishing-landfill-capacity-rains-render-kpone-dumpsite-inaccessible-sanitation-crisis-looms.html
Diminishing landfill capacity: Rains render Kpone
dumpsite inaccessible - Sanitation crisis looms
A looming sanitation crisis is threatening communities across the eastern
corridor of the Greater Accra Region as the Kpone Controlled Dumpsite, the
area's primary waste disposal facility, struggles under the weight of growing
volumes of refuse and diminishing landfill capacity.
Waste management companies
operating in the region have raised concerns about increasing difficulties in
disposing of refuse at the facility, warning that the situation could severely
disrupt household waste collection services if urgent interventions are not
implemented.
The challenge has been
compounded by recent heavy rains, which have rendered parts of the dumpsite
difficult to access. Operators say the poor weather conditions, coupled with
the site's near-exhausted capacity, have resulted in significant delays in the
disposal of collected waste.
As a consequence, several communities, particularly within the Tema Metropolis,
are already experiencing irregular waste collection, with refuse accumulating
in front of homes and creating growing environmental and public health
concerns.
One of the waste management
firms affected by the situation, J. Stanley Owusu and Company Limited, has
apologised to residents of Tema for delays in lifting household waste over the
past few weeks.
In a message to its clients,
dated Tuesday, June 9, 2026, the company attributed the disruption to technical
challenges and operational difficulties at the final disposal site.
"Please accept our
apologies for the recent delays in your waste collection.
Technical issues and heavy
rainfall at the final disposal site have caused operational difficulties, but
we are working diligently to resume your scheduled service as soon as possible.
Thank you for your patience," the company stated.
For residents, however, the
impact is becoming increasingly difficult to bear.
Mr Isaac Mensah, a resident of
Tema Community Eight, described the situation as alarming, saying waste from
households in his neighbourhood had not been collected for nearly three weeks.
"The refuse is beginning
to produce an unpleasant smell, especially after the rains. It is becoming a
serious nuisance," he told the Daily Graphic.
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According to him, some
residents have been forced to hire motorcycle operators at additional cost to
transport their waste elsewhere in order to prevent further accumulation.
Recall
The current developments
appear to confirm concerns raised earlier this year by the Minister for Local
Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Ahmed Ibrahim, who warned that
communities in eastern Accra were sitting on a "sanitation time
bomb".
During a tour of the Kpone
Controlled Dumpsite on February 23, 2026, the Minister disclosed that the
landfill, which receives hospital, domestic and industrial waste from about 10
Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), was nearing full
capacity and could run out of space within weeks if immediate action was not
taken.
"If critical steps are not taken, the entire eastern part of Accra will have nowhere to dump its waste," he cautioned. Information gathered by the Daily Graphic indicates that the landfill has significantly exceeded its intended lifespan.
While the facility was
originally designed to operate with an airspace height of 16 metres, that
capacity has long been exhausted, with waste currently piled beyond 24 metres.
Receiving between 600 and 800
tonnes of waste daily, the facility is also grappling with recurring fire
outbreaks, leachate overflow, deteriorating access roads and operational
congestion.
With the rainy season expected
to continue and waste volumes steadily increasing, stakeholders are calling for
urgent measures to expand disposal capacity, rehabilitate the facility or
identify alternative landfill sites to avert what could become a major sanitation
and public health emergency in Greater Accra
End Writer's email
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