Paynesville City – The camera of a FrontPageAfrica reporter was on Tuesday, January 24 seized by unruly employees of Sanitors and Services, a company responsible for collecting waste in Paynesville City.The reporter was harassed by the company’s employees while he was gathering reports on environmental issues in the municipality of Paynesville.
The FPA sub-editor, Alpha Daffae Senkpeni, who has reported lengthily on environmental matters including waste management, was following a story about the delays in collecting wastes from the streets of Paynesville, and after the reporter spotted a garbage truck collecting garbage from the Du Port Road junction, he opted to take a photograph of the truck.
“I decided to take a quick and long shout of the truck that was collecting the garbage, that was a photo I though could tell a story about waste collection in the city,” Senkpeni said.
“I was over 200 feet way from them because I never wanted them to identify in my photo, but these guys began insulting me and demanding that I give my camera to them.”
The reporter said he was then attacked by the garbage collectors who demanded that he delete the photo, when he rejected their order and identified himself as a journalist, one of the Sanitors & Services employees identified as Mohammed S. Kromah assaulted the reporter and seized his camera.
“I will burst up this damn camera and nothing will come out of it. Who are you to take photograph even if you are journalist I don’t care and if you play with me you will get good beating from me,” Kromah threatened.
Kromah, unable to operate the camera to delete the photos, then gave it to some unidentified officers of the Paynesville City Police.
The reporter, after hours of contacting the Public Relations officer of PCC, Jani Jallah, who later intervened, was able to retrieve his camera.
When the FPA reporter showed up at the headquarters of Sanitors and Services located at ELWA Junction opposite the Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS) to inform the administration about the unscrupulous action of its employees, personnel representing the company thrashed the reporter’s concerns and said he had no business photographing their workers while they were on the field or where so ever.
The individuals in the offices of the Sanitors and Service, who declined to identify themselves bullied the FPA reporter and ordered him to leave the premises.
There were even more threats against the FPA reporter; with some threatening to beat up the reporter if he doesn’t vacate the company’s premises.
Waste disposal in several communities in Monrovia, Paynesville and surrounding environs remains a serious challenge for city governments, and some Liberians continue to allege that sanitation companies hired to pick garbage from designated sites across the cities and managed these wastes are failing to perform.
Huge piles of garbage can are often seen across Paynesville City with community dwellers and commuters complaining that little or no efforts are being applied by companies’ responsible to ensure the piles of garbage are removed. A World Bank US17.60 million project ended last December with scanty impact.
The Emergency Monrovia Urban Sanitation Project (EMUS) for Monrovia was to assist the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) to provide solid waste services and increase the volume of collected and disposed waste from approximately 30 percent of daily generated waste to 45 percent.
Original project activities with higher than anticipated cost include waste collection and disposal.
According to reports, N.C Sanitor and Services was not part of the World Bank Project (EMUS), but has recently been managing wastes on behalf of the Paynesville City Corporation (PCC).