Waste pickers appeal to government for COVID-19 Relief Support

According to the Landfill Waste Pickers Association, their operations have been badly hit by the pandemic and that government needs to come to their aid.

In a statement issued by the Chairman of the Kpone Landfill Waste Pickers Association, Johnson Doe, the group bemoaned the perceived disregard by the government in the distribution of relief support for industries hit by the pandemic.

The group stated that the government must take steps to support them financially and logistically.

“Government should target waste pickers as a group in need of COVID-19 relief support measures. Immediate efforts should be made to support waste pickers with appropriate PPEs, food items, financial aid, medical aid and other necessities to address the extraordinary drop in earnings and increase in stress and risk caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” parts of the statement read.

Johnson Doe, in the statement lamented that the decommissioning of the Kpone Landfill Site without consultation with the waste pickers.

He insisted as key stakeholders in the drive to rid the city of its dirt, they should have been engaged on the matter.

“The Kpone landfill site is the main source of income and livelihood for about 500 waste pickers and their families, the decision by government to proceed with the decommissioning and reengineering of the Kpone landfill site without due consultation with waste pickers or provision of livelihood safeguarding measures has had dire consequences for the livelihoods of waste pickers and their families,” he said.

The group also demanded their integration into the operations of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.

While we have over the years provided critical services in municipal solid waste management (SWM) in the country, we are still not integrated into municipal SWM systems. We therefore urge Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to integrate waste pickers into the solid waste management systems through the provision of contracts for recycling service provision and secure conditions for work.

“We the waste pickers working on the Kpone Landfill Site have been proactively exploring and piloting waste collection services in low-income coastal communities that are underserved by the current system. Now we need to be supported by the government and private sector with the requisite logistics, infrastructure, and financial support to secure community waste management contracts from MMDAs.

“Expanding doorstep waste collection to underserved communities through the provision of contracts for waste pickers will simultaneously reduce environmental pollution, prevent greenhouse gas emission by preventing open burning, reduce economic precarity by integrating waste pickers into formal systems, and reduce the environmental and sanitary injustices associated with poor waste management in underserved communities,” parts of the statement read.