There is simply no excuse for Liberia, after 169 years of independence, to be struggling to mount a solution that satisfies communities and that does not threaten our children any longer.
Both the Monrovia City Corporation and the Paynesville City Corporation (PCC) must make this issue their number one priority so that we do not see another Ebola-like situation.
PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES REMAIN a major threat to Liberia’s post-war development. Despite a somewhat aggressive effort by the Monrovia City Corporation during the reign of Madam Mary Broh, that has culminated with a major First Saturday of the month clean-up exercise; issues of sanitation and waste management continues to have major ramifications and implications on the survival of not just the poor and destitute but people in every facet of the society.
AT THE START of the post-war government led by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, international agencies like the United Nations reported that mountains of garbage in the capital, Monrovia and its environs posed serious challenges as government and private sector were challenged to repair the country’s broken system for collecting trash, dubbed as the greatest public health threat to the post-war nation.
TEN YEARS ON, Liberia is still struggling to deal with a dilemma that poses serious threats and has become a major health hazard especially in the absence of waste management sector and the lack of proper toilets.
THIS HAS LEAD to the grotesque exposure to household trash, human feces, and hazardous medical waste being randomly disposed throughout the city.
THINGS ARE SO BAD that in some areas, where garbage and stench are dominant, children walk barefoot through trash heaps, picking through piles that can contain used syringes and bloodied bandages.
THIS WANTON disregard for the threat this poses to the country presents a serious problem of hygiene
IT IS RATHER DISTURBING that since the end of its 13-year civil war 2003, Africa’s oldest republic, has had no comprehensive system for dealing with trash and authorities have been unable to developed a cohesive, long-term strategy to deal with an alarming problem with a multitude of health complications.
THIS IS WHY, after 169 years as an independent nation, it has become necessary for authorities to address this overwhelming public waste situation head on, simply because it poses a massive threat of disease like cholera, Ebola, malaria, typhoid and a host of other preventable illnesses that continue to kill innocent Liberians on a daily basis.
Environmental waste is a threat to vital ecosystems and food supplies. Even more troubling, high concentrations of unchecked waste can lead to birth defects, malnutrition and stunting.
IN RECENT WEEKS, AND MONTHS we have been bombarded with excuses from the Monrovia City Corporation(MCC) and the Paynesville City Corporation(PCC) that they simply cannot contend with the volume of the problem.
THE PUBLIC LANDFILL currently managed by MCC/PCC is overflowing which has made it necessary that for the government to employ a sustainable and innovative approach to address the problem.
THIS IS EVIDENT in communities all across the city, according to a recent Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) project survey which reported that poor sanitation remains a serious problem especially the management and disposal of waste.
WASH SAYS Poor sanitation gives infections the ability to spread quickly and cause major human parasitic diseases.
IN COMMUNITIES LIKE Whein Town for example, the survey reported that huge dump facility is causing stench for residents in the area, making the community a haven for major health hazard; mosquito’s bites, flies, cockroaches, and unsafe drinking water in the community.
THERE IS SIMPLY no excuse for Liberia, after 169 years of independence, to be struggling to mount a solution that satisfies communities and that does not threaten our children any longer.
BOTH THE MCC AND THE PCC must make this issue their number one priority so that we do not see another Ebola-like situation.