Paynesville City – Liberia’s health system is already weak and measures to upgrade it appear to be a serious challenge as citizens across the country continues to live hazardously. Poor environmental condition in slum communities and market places is leaving low income Liberian to live and eat in filth.
Report by Willie N. Tokpah – [email protected]
City corporations and hired sanitation firms are struggling to manage garbage waste which leaves many expose to germ and diseases.
Over the years, efforts have been put in place by the Liberia government to control garbage within major streets and driveways. But dirt continues to pile up on a daily basis.
Last year, soldiers of the Arm Forces of Liberia engineer department removed the huge pile of garbage from the driveway to the Coalfield Market located within the vicinity of the RedLight Market in Paynesville, but a stock pile of garbage is returning again – and dwellers in the area describe the situation as ‘terrible’.
And they have also expressed concern and frustration over the presence of fast food centers operating within the garbage-concentrated terrain.
FrontPageAfrica over the weekend discovered that some fast food centers or cook shops within the commercial district of Red Light are operating in poor sanitary condition.
These fast food joints are very close to garbage sites – where residents eat on a daily basis.
When our reporter toured the area, an army of flies where seen buzzing around as food was being prepared in the open.
Children were also spotted eating close to the garbage site that has reportedly being abandoned for more than seven years.
A regular customer of these makeshift cook shops in the garbage-polluted area, Junior Kamara, said the stench from the garbage and flies are unbearable for him and many others who purchase food from the shops.
“This dirt is really embarrassing us because we cannot find good food area around here and we cannot leave our market to go elsewhere to find food. Sometimes we have to go without food for the day,” Kamara lamented.
He said the dirt had not only posed threat to food consumption in the market, but also closed the major road leading to the Coalfield Market in RedLight district.
Many fast food joints are losing their customers because of the poor sanitary condition of the area.
These customers have found new locations instead of eating in the filth.
Kamara and other marketers say the delay in removing the garbage is allowing unknown individuals continue to stock up more dirt overnight.
“The Liberia Marketing Association Officials are collecting money from people that sell in the market but I don’t know why the dirt collectors are delaying in getting the dirt out of here.”
“Every day people are bringing dirt at this site and cook shops are all over here,” he said.
Mr. Kamara complained that several failed attempts have been made to burn the pile of garbage, but the situation gets worse and affects them.
“The pollution from the dirt is a serious problem for us because they bring different kinds of dirt and it takes two to three months before the sanitary team come in to reduce the pile of garbage,” he said.
He wants government through the Paynesville City Corporation to handle the garbage situation.
The site where the garbage is piled is said to be a private property being rented to marketers.
One owner of a cook shop just around the garbage site refuses to take blame for the situation, but said the marketing association should act responsibly.
Forstina Garpue said her food center was operating long before people began throwing dirt at the site.
She added that pressure was mounted on the LMA authority to remove the garbage but all to no avail.
The garbage situations, according to marketers worsen during the rainy season, creating health hazard for occupants of the area.
“Rainy season, it cannot be easy here, this whole area can be bad the dirt can be all around our cook shop and the flies can be too many.”
“We can buy fly medicine to drive away the flies and that is expensive for us but we have to do so because customers can come to eat,” Garpue said.
Like Garpue, many owners of fast food centers maintained that they are constrain to operate in the area because it is their only means of livelihood.
Despite the flies and stench, Forstina is lucky to receive a good number of customers daily.
Her customers prefer her shop because it is much closer to their market site.
The ‘cook-bowl-sellers’ as they are locally referred continue are worry because of the slow pace of intervention by the market association.
“Sometimes when we go to LMA, they can give us cheek and nothing we can do about this so we are just asking you (FPA Reporter) to carry this information so that this dirty can be removed,” Forstina averred.
Despite the courage of keeping her customers, Forstina is still worry that the situation may push her customers away due to continue pilling up of garbage in the area.
She’s longing for intervention and hope the garbage can will be removed shortly.