Zoomlion Ghana Limited has announced its willingness to participate in future competitive bids for government sanitation contracts, particularly those involving street sweepers, should the tender process officially reopen.
This was disclosed by the company’s Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications, Emma Adwoa Appiaa Osei-Duah, during an interview on JoyFM’s Super Morning Show on Monday, June 16.
Her remarks follow President Mahama’s directive that the company’s sanitation contract with the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), which expired in September 2024, will not be renewed.
The government also revealed plans to increase compensation for sweepers, citing potential savings from the discontinuation of the previous arrangement with Zoomlion. Future contracts, it stated, would go through a competitive, regionally or district-based procurement process.
Addressing this, Osei-Duah emphasized Zoomlion’s continued interest in such contracts and clarified that, as a service provider, the company relies on public agencies to manage contracts effectively.
“I am a contractor. You bring me in to sign a contract to manage a job,” she explained, pointing out that responsibility for supervision rests with government institutions.
Osei-Duah also spoke about Zoomlion’s extensive investments in waste management infrastructure. She highlighted the existence of recycling and composting plants across the country, including the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant (ACARP), the Kumasi Compost Plant, and facilities with medical waste management capabilities.
These plants, she explained, were established to help solve the increasing difficulty of acquiring land for engineered landfills.
She added that most of Ghana’s daily waste, estimated at 3,000 tons, is organic, making composting facilities a crucial part of sustainable waste management. According to her, Zoomlion converts this organic material into compost while repurposing plastics into products like buckets through pelletization.
However, when asked about criticisms that some of the company’s projects funded by public sources, such as the Energy Sector Levies Act (ESLA), have underperformed, Osei-Duah redirected the conversation toward oversight.
“If there are public funds pushed into this, again I will come back to supervision,” she said. “I may not be an expert in the industry… Someone should put me in line and ensure the value for money is delivered.”
Zoomlion’s reaffirmed interest in future contracts, despite the policy shift, underscores the company’s determination to remain a major player in Ghana’s sanitation space. But under the new framework, strong oversight and transparency will be key.
