Monrovia – Theodorus Kaspers, Head of Cooperation, European Union (EU) Delegation to Liberia, said Liberia lags behind in creating a proper value chain in waste management.
Kaspers said small enterprises in the cities of Monrovia and Paynesville have experimented with recycling, composting and other revalorization efforts, but have failed to become economically viable.
He spoke at the ceremony marking the donation of 13 trucks to the municipalities of Paynesville and Monrovia respectively.
He encouraged the authorities of those two Liberian cities to create an enabling environment for the private sector to step in and take over their waste management.
“I further wish to see them make use of the EU’s additional support to recycling and composting initiatives in the city of Paynesville and Monrovia through a climate change resilient solid waste management implemented by Cities Alliance and I strongly hope that we can report back to the citizens of Europe that their support has been fruitful and sustainable,” said Kaspers.
According to him, Paynesville City Corporation (PCC) has made strong efforts to fight illegal dumping and support behavior change towards waste management and Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) launched a pilot project leading to numbering the houses in 10 districts and changing the waste and revenue collection system in four of those 10 districts.
According to him, both cities have increased coordination with the community-based enterprises to improve the waste management system and have committed themselves to increased revenue collection from waste management and waste collection rates.
Kaspers disclosed that the EU has contributed a total of €60 million (approximately US$67million) to the Liberia Reconstruction Trust Fund.
“This money has been used by the World Bank to construct roads and build the necessary infrastructure for waste management including the landfill in Whein Town and the foreseen landfill in Cheesemanburg.”
He further stated that in the past two years, the Cheesmanburg Landfill and Urban Sanitation Project had to step in on multiple occasions to fill the gap financially and also logistically while the operational costs were meant to be covered by the Government of Liberia.
Said Kaspers, “The latest commitment of the government of Liberia to increase budgetary commitment (from 0.75 to US$1.2 million per year by 2024) is paramount to ensure that the available donor funding is used to build the landfill in Cheesemanburg to the best available standards.”
Also speaking Esther Rojas Garcia, Country Operation Officer, World Bank, said the equipment needs maintenance.
The WB’s Operation Officer further stated that there is a group of donors and initially the World Bank’s support was more of emergence adding that the goal of the finances is to support sustainable waste sector.
Jefferson Koijee, Mayor of MCC, called on communities to collaborate in managing waste in communities.
He noted that wastes should be treated as a national emergency adding that the Finance Ministry should be responsive and engaging municipal heads to reduce wastes.
“We should not play politics with our wastes; we should see it as an embarrassment to all. The MCC encourages the community to work with the MCC to tackle waste management,” Mayor Koijee said.
T. Max Hinneh, proxying for the PCC Mayor, commended the donors and urged residents of both cities to comply with the corporations in designating specifically sites for wastes.