Ghanaian youth who go through the arduous task of burning old tyres to extract steel wires to earn a living, can now heave a sigh of relief.
The German Development Corporation, under the Programme for Sustainable Economic Development (PSED) is embarking on a project that would help the youth extract steel wires with the help of locally-manufactured equipment.
The project also aims at tackling pollution.
Hartwig Michaelsen, Project Manager of PSED at the German Development Corporation, who disclosed this at a stakeholder meeting in Accra recently, said the innovation was aimed at tackling electronic waste pollution.
‘The project aims at connecting those youth, who are currently performing illegal activities, endangering themselves and others to the global player Heidelberg Cement. The project would create some 100 sustainable jobs for unemployed youth.’
It has been established that used tyres are reliable substitutes for coal, which could be used to generate sufficient fuel to manufacture products which require excessive heat.
The tyres, after the removal of their steel components, would be transported to serve as fuel for a clinker plant, which is under construction in Lome, Togo by Heidelberg Cement, a German Company.
Mr. Hartwig stated that in the long term the project would create opportunities in Ghana’s urban centers, including Takoradi, Kumasi, Tamale, and Accra where excessive environmental pollution frequently takes place.
Julius Fobil, an official of the Department of Public Health at the University of Ghana, in an address, said e-waste staffwork under appalling conditions, which expose them to various diseases.
He said the initiative would ensure that such persons are protected in order to address electronic waste.
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BY Ernest Nutsugah
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