Paynesville – Residents of Wein Town Community in Paynesville, Montserrado County, have petitioned the 54th Legislature to intervene and prevail upon the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) to completely shut down the massive waste deposit in their community.
The W(h)ein Town landfill site was developed back in 2012 by the Government with support from the World Bank as an emergency and temporary facility for solid wastes.
Despite the admittance by the government that the site has reached its maximum capacity, the MCC and Paynesville City Corporation (PCC) continue to transport and dispose huge pile of garbage on the site.
This has led to renewed calls by residents of the community, to request the immediate closure of the site, which is said to be the largest garbage deposit site in the country.
At the end of ex-President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s administration, the residents began expressing their disenchantments over the failure of the government and its partners to provide some of the basic needs including clean water, insecticides and other incentives.
The residents said this time around they are resolved to hold on to their request.
In a petition presented to the 54th Legislature on Sunday, September 29, the residents complained that they have grown frustrated over the years due the insistent health and environmental hazard they have endured over the years.
At another meeting held on Sunday, September 28 in the community, they again expressed their concern over the presence of the huge wastes.
“This dump site has been a hell to this community. It is a trap, a real dirty death trap. We have babies, women and old people dying from sicknesses every week. There is no clinic and no safe water,” said P. Saah Vannie, the community youth leader.
“In the agreement that brought the dumpsite, there supposed to be a clinic, running water and opening of alley, but none of this has happened. People die here like flies. We are tired and frustrated. We just call on them to close the dump site. We don’t want this dump site in our community anymore.”
The residents, through the Elder Council, have also given a 30-day ultimatum to the government to make several interventions ahead of the shutdown of the site.
They are calling for the “fencing of the waste deposal site to prevent wind from blowing trash around the community, application of adequate treatment to reduce air pollution and eradicate pests, and provision of pipe borne water throughout the community.
The residents also want the construction of modern clinic for the affected population, provision of electricity and opening of alleys with in the community.
They have threatened to protest by setting up road blocks to prevent vehicles from carrying wastes to the site.
Added the Petition: “The petitioners pray that the 54th Legislature of the Republic of Liberia through the Speaker will find it urgent in making sure the above mentioned counts are acted upon within 30 days as of the date of the presentation of this petition. “Honorable Speaker, if our counts are not addressed within the stipulated time we will have no other options but create a road block to avoid entry of vehicles bringing wastes within our community.”
The residents claim that since the site was opened in 2006, there have been continuous dumping of solid wastes, including human remains, and medical wastes generated during the Ebola outbreak.
This has led to an unprecedented wave of air pollution and contamination of ground water, they said.
As a result, the residents of the Wein Town Community and its surrounding, said babies have been breathing polluted air and drinking contaminated water.
“There have also been unrestricted mosquitoes throughout the night and intolerable flies during the day due to air pollution. As a consequence, the prevalence of malaria, cholera, and dysentery have increased, with high risk of contracting cancer, damaged brain, kidney disease, nerve damage and liver disease,” they lamented.
Whein Town is found within District #4, Montserrado County. It is represented at the House by Rep. Rustonlyn Suacoco Dennis, who chairs the House’s Committee on Claims and Petitions.
Addressing residents during the petitioning ceremony at a mass meeting in the district, Rep. Dennis acknowledged that the communities have been unfairly treated by the government.
She called for calm and noted that dialogues with key stakeholders including the MCC, World Bank, Montserrado County authorities and the Legislature are the way forward.
“The people of Whein Town have been disadvantaged. It is actually unfair to their community that you will take all of the dirt from Montserrado County and then you waste the dirt in their community,” said Hon. Dennis.
“And the people don’t have access to clinic, access to safe drinking water and electricity. That’s why we want to get down to the nitty gritty of the agreement because it makes no sense that you will have such a facility for waste disposal and the people within the community have no access to clean water.”
House to take Action
Meanwhile, the petition has been presented to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr. Bhofal Chambers, as was promised by Rep. Dennis.
The petition was read in open plenary by Chief Clerk, Mildred Siryon on Monday, September 30.
And following the reading, Plenary voted in favor of a motion mandating the Committees on Health, Claims and Petition and Good Governance to review and advice on the way forward.
MCC and World Bank Response
The Whein Town sanitary landfill site is being managed by MCC with support from the World Bank. The site was developed as an emergency and temporary facility for solid waste materials. Several years later, it is still being used.
Speaking to FrontPageAfrica, the Media Relations Officer of MCC, Pekeleh Gbuapaye said the city corporation is gathering support from the World Bank to develop a new landfill in Cheesemanburg.
Upon completion, Gbuapaye said the site will relocate and MCC will ultimately close down Whein Town.
He said as part of its corporate social responsibility, the MCC has recently erected hand pumps and distributed several items including mosquito nets to the residents.
He welcomed the residents’ petition to the Legislature as their direct Representatives and called for continuous dialogue with them to find an amicable solution.
Meanwhile, the World Bank, responding to a FrontPageAfrica’s inquiry last year following similar disenchantment expressed by residents of Whein Town, said it has proposed to support the government’s Cheesemanburg Landfill and Urban Sanitation (CLUS) Project.
In a statement, the World Bank indicated that the CLUS project will be completed and ready for use in 2020.
“Construction of new sanitary landfills unlike traditional infrastructure requires environmental and social studies of the sites in order to ensure that the proper measures are taken to protect the environment and to mitigate impact to surrounding communities,” the Bank said in a statement.
“For example a thorough study of the groundwater at the proposed site in Cheesemanburg has to be done in two different seasons (wet and dry) to ensure that the sanitary landfill does not contaminate groundwater. After the groundwater study, an engineering firm will start the design of the landfill before construction starts. This process normally takes generally three years to be ready to accept wastes. This new site is scheduled to be ready by June 2020, so we are still on track. At that time all new waste disposals will shift to the new site and the old landfill will be permanently closed.”
The Bank says before the closure of the site by 2020, there will be another project intended to cover landfill with soil in order to reduce the smell, insects and rodents that have affected surrounding communities.