Parliament okays hazardous & electronic bill

Ghana’s legislature has approved the Hazardous and Electronic Waste Control and Management Bill 2016.
 The bill which is targeted at regulating the usage and disposal of waste materials in the country received unanimous approval from both divides in Parliament
Speaking to Joynews, Ranking member on Parliament’s Environment Committee, Francis Addai Nimoh, said the law has come at the right time considering the way some persons dispose of electronic gadgets in the country.
He explained the law mandates the establishment of an electronic waste recycling plant that is expected to create some direct and indirect jobs in the country.
The law, he explained, will “ensure the employment for the people as well as a timely collection and delivery of the waste to the plant for processing.”
He also disclosed the law has made it possible for people to “import electronic waste as raw material from any country into Ghana and send it straight away to the processing plant for it to be processed into some other product.”
He ruled out the law will take effect immediately, noting, “The law is not just going to be implemented straight away.”
According to him, the sector Minister “Will have to come back to Parliament with regulations on certain procedure and what EPA has to do and a lot of things.”
“So we still have a lot to do before we take off with the full implementation of this Act,” he added.
Statistics have it that about 70 percent of electrical and electronic gadgets are brought into the country from European countries.
Some of these gadgets are discarded electrical and electronic equipment such as computers, mobile phones, refrigerators and television sets.
Their presence in the country has resulted in the pollution of not only natural resources such as rivers and streams but also contributed to endangering the health of some Ghanaians.