President John Dramani Mahama has announced plans to transform the reclaimed Agbogbloshie landfill site into an industrial hub, featuring a textile factory aimed at creating jobs for young people.
Speaking on September 18, 2026, during the launch of the National Emergency Waste Evacuation Exercise, Mahama highlighted that this initiative aligns with a broader national strategy to convert cleared landfill sites into productive economic spaces.
The redevelopment begins with a 90-day exercise to evacuate approximately one million tonnes of waste from Agbogbloshie to the Adepa Waste Centre in Nsawam.
Once cleared, the site will be repurposed for industrial development, with the new textile factory serving as a focal point for youth employment.
Below is the full statement
Remarks by President Mahama before the start of work to evacuate waste from Agbogloshie.
For more than two decades, Agbogloshie has stood as a painful reminder of the scale of our sanitation challenges, and the consequences of allowing it to exist.
Here, in the heart of our capital, our accumulated waste, discarded plastics, electronic equipment, and other waste have formed a mountain that threatens public health, degrades the environment, and undermines the dignity of the surrounding communities.
For the people of old Fadama, Agbogloshie, Abossey Okai, and neighbouring areas, this is a daily risk to their health. It affects the air they breathe, the conditions in which they work and the environment in which their children grow.
Waste enters the Odaw and the Korle Lagoon. It obstructs our drainage system and worsens the risk of flooding, with devastating consequences for lives, homes and livelihoods. We cannot build the clean, safe, and resilient capital we desire while we allow this situation to continue; so today, we are taking decisive action.
I am pleased to commence the evacuation of the accumulated waste at Agbogloshie to the Adepa Engineered Landfill Sites. This exercise marks an important step in our determination to restore order, improve sanitation, and reclaim our city for the people who live and work in it.
What we are beginning today is significant for three main regions.
First, we are putting our own capacity to work. We are deploying heavy equipment secured under the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP), including tipper trucks, excavators, bulldozers, and wheel loaders, to confront this longstanding national challenge.
These machines were purchased with taxpayers’ money, so they must deliver practical benefits to the people of Ghana. Let me at this stage commend the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga and his colleagues, the Minister for Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, and the Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwame Governs Agbodza, for advancing an approach that makes effective use of equipment and institutions that we already have at our disposal.
The proposal they presented was straightforward: mobilise the DRIP equipment, bring the assemblies together, and provide the resources necessary to get the work done. This is the kind of practical thinking that our Reset Agenda demands.
Every public asset must serve a useful purpose, and every cedi spent must deliver value. My special recommendation goes to the DRIP Coordinator, the drivers, the operators, and the maintenance teams across the southern sector who have been mobilised for this exercise. Your skill, discipline and commitment will be central to its success, and I urge you to operate safely, maintain the equipment carefully and carry out your duties with pride.
Secondly, this exercise demonstrates what we can achieve through coordinated efforts across government. The Ministry of Finance is providing the funding with additional support from the District Assemblies Common Fund. The Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs is leading the exercise with operational and engineering support from the Ghana Armed Forces, particularly the 48 Engineer Regiment, who have recently achieved national acclaim on clearing the Accra-Kumasi Expressway.
We are now mobilising them to clear Agbogloshie; after that, I have a lot of work for them. They have more tasks. Soldiers will not only go to war. They will also be used for emergency operations.
I thank the Chief of the Defence Staff, the military leadership, and all personnel assigned to this operation. The Ghana Armed Forces play an important role in national development. Your engineering expertise, logistics capacity, and discipline will be invaluable in ensuring that this work proceeds safely and efficiently.
The Ministry of Roads and Highways has also mobilised private road contractors to contribute equipment. And as the Minister for Local Government told you, several private road contractors have pledged to bring their dump trucks and other equipment to support the DRIP equipment.
The Minister responsible for Energy and Green Transition is also engaging bulk oil distribution companies and oil marketing companies to support the exercise with fuel and other essential supplies.
I welcome these contributions and encourage the private sector to support these national efforts. When our ministries, assemblies, security services, and businesses work towards a common goal, we can overcome any challenge that has existed for years. Such cooperation must be matched by accountability.
Fuel, equipment, funds, and personnel must be properly managed, and the public must see clear results from the resources committed to this operation.
Thirdly, this exercise forms part of a broader programme to transform this area. Our objective is to remove a longstanding public health hazard and create conditions for lasting improvements.
Clearing this site will make way for their proposed Agbogloshie Urban Land Renewal Project. After we clear this garbage, the reclaimed land will become an Industrial Park. We intend to establish a major textile factory here to provide employment for our young people.
This operation will end the open dumping and burning that have endangered lives and damaged the surrounding environment for far too long. The evacuated waste will be transported to the Adepa Engineered Landfill for control, disposal, compaction, and covering with appropriate environmental safeguards.
The entire operation from evacuation, excavation, loading, transportation, and final disposal must be managed responsibly. We must protect the residents, road users, and the communities along the haulage routes.
That is why we suggest that major haulage take place at night, in accordance with our 24-Hour Economy Initiative. During the day, we will evacuate some garbage on a smaller scale; at night, we will operate at full capacity.
A drone AI estimate and assessment of the garbage to be moved estimates the garbage at 1 million tonnes. Our engineers estimate that if it goes well, we should be able to finish clearing this area within 90 days. The success of this exercise will depend as much on what happens after the evacuation as on removing the waste itself.
I have therefore given clear instructions to the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs and the Minister for Defence that this site must never become a dump site again. The Ghana Armed Forces will support protecting the reclaimed land to prevent encroachment.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly and the Ablekuma Central Municipal Assembly must enforce their municipal byelaws and work with traditional authorities and community leaders to prevent any renewed dumping on the site. These arrangements must be put in place even as the work progresses.
We cannot commit public resources to clearing this site and then allow the same conditions to return. Enforcement must be firm, fair, and sustained. At the same time, residents and businesses must have access to reliable, affordable waste collection services.
Lasting compliance requires both effective enforcement and practical arrangements for proper waste disposal. To the people of Old Fadama and Agbogloshie, we are undertaking this exercise for your health, your dignity, and your children’s future. I therefore ask you to cooperate with the military personnel, the DRIP operators, and assembly teams as they carry out this demanding work in the coming weeks.
We recognise that an operation of this scale will cause inconvenience. The movement of heavy vehicles and clearing of accumulated waste will affect traffic and daily activities in parts of Accra. I have directed the coordinating teams to minimise these disruptions, maintain clear safety agreements, and keep affected communities well informed.
I appeal to motorists, traders, transport operators and residents to exercise patience and follow the guidance of those managing the operation. Your cooperation will help us complete the work safely, efficiently, and on time.
Our mission extends beyond Agbogloshie. Across the country, many communities face similar challenges. Addressing them requires a functioning waste management system from the household to final disposal.
I have reviewed the comprehensive plan submitted by the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs to improve waste management nationwide in all your districts and municipal assemblies. The plan includes providing households with waste bins, constructing additional waste transfer stations, and using DRIP equipment to support the development of three landfill sites.
We will also increase the number of recycling plants to handle waste generated across the country. The plan also provides for extending landfill capacity in the Greater Kumasi Area and developing engineered landfill facilities in all 16 regional capitals.
The Minister for Finance has committed to supporting this programme. And I call on all assemblies, traditional authorities, private operators, and citizens to contribute to the success of these works.
As we implement this, we must also strengthen waste separation, recycling, and material recovery to reduce the volume of waste requiring final disposal and create opportunities for enterprise and employment.
Following this exercise, the DRIP equipment mobilised here will be sent to your district and municipal assemblies to do similar work if you have any refuse dumps that must be cleared. Our goal is to clean our communities, build healthier families, and build a waste management system that serves our growing towns and cities.
Government will provide leadership, mobilise resources, and enforce the rules. Every citizen also has a responsibility to dispose of waste properly and protect our public spaces. Our drains must carry water freely. We must protect our rivers and lagoons. We must keep our markets, roadsides, and open spaces clean.
This is how we will reset Ghana through practical action, responsible use of public resources, effective institutions, and citizens who take pride in their communities. Above all, let’s enforce sanitation rules.
I was watching a video recently somewhere in Tema, along the sea, and there was this beautiful lady doing her business on the beach. They were drying fish, and if you see the amount of filth there.
Ebi Bright. The DRIP equipment is coming there after we’ve finished. They are coming to your place to clear that whole frontage. So let this exercise restore our dignity and demonstrate that with determination and cooperation, we can resolve problems that have burdened our nation for far too long.
I now formally declare the evacuation of waste from Agbogloshie to the Adepa Engineered Landfill Site officially commenced.
May God bless you all, and may God bless our homeland Ghana.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
