Four days of Oti landfill fire causes uneasy calm at Asokwa

A pale haze still lingers over six communities in the Asokwa Municipality— where the sprawling Oti landfill have been burning for close to four days, reports say.

It is not immediately known what started the Saturday fire at the Kumasi’s biggest dumping site.

Authorities are however, pointing to natural and human causes.

Photos obtained by Dailymailgh.com show billowing smoke which could be seen kilometers away.

The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) have been working tirelessly to bring the situation under control as concerns grow over safety of residents

Three fire engines have already been deployed to the scene, witnesses say.

KMA spokesperson, Afia Konadu Aboagye says the situation is under control.

“It started Saturday dawn. We have been able to put it under control and we cannot really tell what caused the fire. When these trucks carrying the refuse come, we cannot tell whether there is fire in them or if someone is using a coal pot and when they are done cooking, they try some way to put off the coal, put it in their garbage and take it to the communal site and it is brought there. It could also be that when refuse is compacted for some time, it generates what we call methane and the heat will spark the fire. So, we cannot tell if it is natural or someone put the fire in their garbage and brought it there”, she told Accra-based Citi FM.

The Assembly, she further said, it was collaborating with officials of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to ensure the fire is doused completely.

She also assured that the development was not going to affect waste disposal at the facility.

There has been a long tussle over management of the facility after the Asokwa Constituency broke away from the KMA to gain a Municipal status.

There have been calls by residents in the Municipality to manage the landfill.

Source: Jonathan Ofori, Daily Mail GH