Monrovia – Waste management is becoming a daunting task for the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC), as several major streets across the city are overwhelmed with mountains of garbage.
Report by Alpha Daffae Senkpeni – [email protected]
In downtown Monrovia, there are huge presences of both solid and liquid wastes. On Buchanan and Carey Streets, Front Street, Holton Avenue, Camp Johnson Road, Clay and Randall Streets, garbage is threatening the health of many inhabitants of the city.
Pedestrians, residents and businesses are struggling to deal with the every day stench and the potential heath hazard. Some say the poor waste management puts the image of the city in opprobrium despite the launch of the much-publicized ‘Weah for Clean City’ campaign by the city corporation on March 3.
Many residents are concerned about the image of one of the oldest modern cities in the West Africa region.
Monrovia, founded 1822 and named after a former US President, has struggled to signify its years of existence, as over population (now over one million people) and congestion become a notable problem yet to be tackled despite national and international support.
The new MCC administration replaced the famous ‘Mary Broh Saturday’ introduced by former Acting City Mayor Broh with the ‘Weah for Clean City’.
But with little success so far, the campaign will run every first Saturday of the month as it was under Madam Broh.
During her regime, Madam Broh succeeded in persuading business owners to close on every first Saturday until 10 a.m.; she enforced several city ordinances that earned her massive applause from everyone.
The new administration headed by Mayor Jefferson Koijee is over zealous to make the city “clean and green” but it is obviously struggling to deal with a fundamental task of any modern city government – managing waste.
Prior to the launch of the campaign, Koijee made lavish promises including making Monrovia one of the cleanest and greenest cities in the country.
“The campaign, we hope will reach out to every area of society and seek to instill in Monrovia, particularly residents and visitors to this city, the importance of keeping our public places and city clean,” the youthful mayor assured.
Now, Mayor Koijee and his team are falling short of implementing the city ordinance as the sanitation of the city deteriorates.
Section 2 (b) of the revised city law states that the MCC, “shall have the sole responsibility for, and to ensure the proper collection and disposal of garbage within the City of Monrovia, so as to enhance not only the beautification and orderliness of the city, but also for conducive sanitation and healthy environment, food and water condition for its residents in accordance with the municipal regulation and public health Environmental safety law…”
Critics say instead of focusing on the task of beautifying and cleaning the city, the new mayor is making moves to gratify his political image.
Pekeleh Gbaupaye, MCC public relations officer, said the new city government “met these challenges and the delays in collecting waste around the city is not deliberate.”
“It cannot be a blame shifting though, but these are things that we are working on and with in a sooner and possible time, we will make sure all of these challenges are addressed,” he told FrontPageAfrica on Wednesday.
But residents say the collection of waste is regularly delayed. They are uncertain about the MCC’s commitment to effectively manage the capacity of city waste.
“MCC people do not come every day to collect the dirt; the dirt can stay for more than two weeks to three weeks. We can call them, call them before they (MCC) come,” says John Wilson, a carpenter and resident of Randall Street, where a huge mountain of garbage has become a nuisance for residents and pedestrians.
Wilson further said residents of Waterside, Front and Mechlin Streets also dispose garbage on the location – a place the City Corporation considers a designated site for solid waste disposal.
“It is causing lots of diseases, as you can see the flies, many people around here getting sick from the dirt. The garbage is affecting us; the place is looking bad. You can see the water just stock up here because of the heavy garbage that is placed here,” Wilson added.
Susan Dolo, a fast food vendor at Water Street added: “As you can see, this is where I am selling my food. The garbage scent can’t give me chance. People used to come here to eat but because of the heavy pollution I can now take the food to them from one place to another.”
“I want to call on the people from MCC to see how best they can get rid of the garbage from here so that we can live in peace and get fresh air.”
At the intersection of Carey and Buchanan Streets, a stockpile of waste is disrupting pedestrians from using the sidewalk. Business owners along the street say the stockpile of dirt is most times not removed until after several weeks.
“If the MCC can make it their duty to come for the dirt every day or every two days, it will be much better; the dirt will not be plenty like this,” said Richmond Ziah, a vendor.
Added Jerry Bladen, a resident of Carey Street: “The dirt is now taking over the entire road and this dirt has been here for the past weeks and there’s no way we are able to live in peace or do our business here in peace. We don’t even think Monrovia is a city because no capital city is supposed to be dirty like this.”
Gbaupaye blames the residents for the situation, alleging, “People are taking the garbage from the community and putting the dirt on the road.”
“These people leave the designated site and dump dirt in the wrong places, and the MCC is working on collecting garbage from the city,” he said.
However, residents say these designated sites are breading ground for pollution of the city because the MCC does not employ the appropriate strategies to recollect the waste on time.
“Almost every part of the city you go you will see that garbage is piled up.”
“This is not good at all. The MCC needs to do something about it. The issue of garbage in the city can cause serious health hazard for commuters,” said Jeff Kollie, a street vendor on Carey Street.