LIBERIA: Garbage accumulation in and around Monrovia Again
…MCC, PCC, Zoom-lion and N.C. Sanitors urged to double efforts – By: WASH R&E “Media” Network – With the rainy season intensifying in Liberia, a tropical rain forest country situated on the West Coast of Africa, and its capital Monrovia named after the fifth President of the United States of America is once again experiencing huge stockpiles of garbage at some designated sites.
Paynesville: garbage stockpiles
Central Monrovia: dirt, feces and flooding
Besides, the designated garbage sites, residents in some communities in Monrovia and surroundings have resorted to creating their own sites by dumping waste at any area, which is in violation of cities’ ordinances.
On the other hand, the Liberian Government Autonomous Agencies responsible for Cities’ ordinances, the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC), the Paynesville City Corporation (PCC), and the two internationally sponsored waste collection companies, Zoom-lion and N. C. Sanitor are again reneging on the effective disposal of garbage.
From the Paynesville and Gardnerville end of Monrovia to other communities, stockpiles of garbage have over still at the Stephen Tolbert Estate junction, the Jacob Town Market, including Oldest Congo Town, as well in the Sinkor belt of Old Road, on the Bushrod Island- Clara Town and Logan Town including Soniwein in Central Monrovia, among others.
For the Commercial District of Red Light, the Poultry Community on the Pipeline Road Community in Paynesville remains the same with the over still of garbage in that area for over three years now, the Gobachop Market Field, behind the Hage Store area, the Soul Clinic Community and Parker Paint on the Highway leading from Monrovia to Kakata City in Margibi County, are all areas of garbage stockpiles.
From a survey conducted by the Media WASH Network, sponsored by WaterAid in Liberia and sierra Leone, revealed that the delay in the disposal of the garbage in Monrovia and its environs is due to the deplorable condition of the road leading to the “MCC Solid Waste Site” in Whein Town, outside Monrovia.
This road leading to the Site which is an alternative route that has been used from the time the Waste site was placed there, during the rainy season can hinder the free flow of garbage trucks to the area, thus stopping trucks from reaching the various garbage cells.
Zoom-lion, N.C. Sanitors and the Paynesville City Corporation (PCC) continue to disposal the waste on the land surface of Whein Town, which from time to time is creating serious health hazard for the residents.
Besides Zoom-lion and N.C. Sanitors, PCC which often hires trucks on a monthly basis to transport waste from Paynesville to the waste site have constantly complained that the bad road to the dump site is spoiling their trucks.
But what is more astonishing about this is, the less than half mile road leading to the dump site in the Whein Community is yet to be completed, though funding from the Bank World was released to MCC for that road project during the Administration of Madam Mary Broh.
Although, N.C. Sanitors spoke of bringing in additional trucks and increasing the sizes of the various skit buckets months aga, the disposal and collection of waste remain the same.
Likewise, the PCC Authorities under the Acting Leadership of Madam Cyvette Gibson pronounced the arrival of two garbage compact trucks from Istanbul, Turkey with one hundred skit buckets, the impact of these items are yet to be felt by residents of Paynesville.
More interestingly on the garbage issue, residents of Whein Town have petitioned their Representative, Henry Fahnbulleh, to engage authorities at the Monrovia City Corporation about their social contract agreement on the MCC Solid Waste Site in their community.
They said under the agreement several thousand United States Dollars should be provided the community by MCC for the construction of hand pumps for them to have access to safe drinking water and the spraying of the area to avoid ants, cockroaches, flies, and mosquitoes including the offensive odor of the waste site.
“Since the agreement was finalized some five years now, none of these things mentioned above had happened in our community and this waste site is causing a major problem for us”, the Whein Town residents told Representative Fahnbulleh recently at a community meeting.
The residents complained that during the rainy season, they usually experience outbreak of diarrhea in the community that has resulted to a number of deaths, with swam of flies and ants invading the area.
Apart from the accumulation of huge garbage stockpiles in and around Monrovia, the WASH Reporters & Editors Network has also observed the misuse of drainages in Monrovia and its surroundings with Soniwein and Buzzi Quarter residents being badly affected.
The sanitation situation in and around Monrovia was improving few months ago following the start of a robust media focus on sanitation, but it seems that the rainy season, bad road to the Whein Town garbage disposal site and the complacency of authorities to responsible adequately in performing their duties have made matter worst.
Investigation continues
