By Mohamed Jalloh
Freetown is plagued with many problems, one of which is that of waste management. The wave of stench that greets people entering the city, from the Kissy Ferry Terminal, is unbearable.
As one approaches Up-gun, there is a smoke smoldering dumpsite popularly called “bomeh” located in the middle of town that signals the type of country one has landed. Communities living in close proximity to the site are adversely in danger of health and environmental disasters particularly during the rainy season. This is a stark reminder that Freetown is the filthiest place on earth as it was the darkest city on earth before 2007.
Thumbs up to President Bio for the issuance of an executive order reintroducing the Saturday cleaning, but this time on the first Saturday of every month (7am-12pm).
It is easy to make pronouncements than achieving the desired results on the ground, which calls in to question the logistical preparedness of the government to succeed in such an ambitious exercise.
To start with, the 5th of May slated for the commencement of the exercise also coincides with the National Primary School Exams. This is the First dilemma of the Bio government, but since the SLPP is a party that attaches much premium on education the cleaning may likely be postponed.
Whenever it will start, a curious observer would like to know the available logistics like trucks and other equipments that are useful in the execution of such an exercise.
Let’s say all the drainages emptied of its content and the rubbish embarrassingly displayed on the street, will there be enough trucks and tricycles to remove the eyesores on time? If there is delay in disposing the heaps of rubbish, disease infested rodents and insects will transmit viruses and sicknesses in communities as our experience with sanitation related epidemics like Ebola and cholera. It means we should have learnt our lesson as a nation.
Freetown, in its current state, is overburdened due to population exploitation after the civil war; in the process it has generated more waste than ever before. Plenty of garbage in drainages has exacerbated the floods during the rainy season; the cleaning exercise will undoubtedly minimize such a recurrent problem in the city.
There is also no legal guarantee for the cleaning exercise, which will further call into question its means of implementation. As the saying goes, once a soldier is always a soldier. President Bio must keep in mind that he is heading a democratically elected dispensation because the coercive method of enforcement during the NPRC regime is out of date.
Effective waste management must also take into cognizant the sprawling slums in the city. Many slum dwellers lack sanitation facilities as water ways and streams are being used by these people to defecate and throw human excreta.
In the event of a health crisis, these under privilege masses, swimming at the margins of poverty, will bear the brunt in such disasters. That is why the Bio government must keep in mind that cleaning the most populous part of the country goes beyond an executive proclamation.
People normally marvel at the beauty and sanity of foreign capitals, including politicians who occasionally make frequent travels to these places. It simply begs the question, why can we not replicate the same in Freetown?