By Bill W. Cooper
The issue of waste management has now become a serious issue for the Liberian government precisely the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC), as several major streets of Monrovia and its environs are said to be now overwhelmed with stockpile of garbage.
Our reporter in downtown Monrovia came across huge presence of both solid and liquid wastes coupled with damaged/broken sewage system thus resulting into the pollution of the entire city.
For instance, major streets like Buchanan and Carey and Front Streets as well as Holton Avenue, Camp Johnson Road, Center, Gurley, Clay and Randall Streets are also areas threatened by the unkempt health situations that many inhabitants have to live with due to the mountainous stockpile of dirt.
According to our reporter, pedestrians, residents and business owners were all complaining as they struggled to deal with the oozing odor from the stockpile garbage that now poses potential health hazard to the entire citizenry.
It can be recalled that the City Mayor, Jefferson Koijee, as means to make Monrovia and its environs “clean and green” launched the much-publicized ‘Weah for Clean City’ campaign thus replacing the famous ‘Mary Broh Saturday’ introduced under the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf regime.
Mayor Koijee and his team, since the launching of the “Weah for Clean City” campaign, have fell short of implementing the required city ordinance as the sanitation of the city is deteriorating by the day.
Section 2 (b) of the Revised City Law states, “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 conditions for its residents in accordance with the municipal regulation and public health environmental safety law.”
Meanwhile, several residents and business personnel blamed the City Mayor and team for the poor waste management of the city, noting that instead of focusing on the task of beautifying and cleaning the city, the new mayor’s moves to glorify his political image.
According to them, the collection of waste is regularly delayed and as such, they are uncertain about the MCC’s commitment to effectively manage the capacity of city waste and ensure that the city is cleaned and green as promised.
A mechanic, Johnson Ballah in an interview with this paper said, “MCC people do not come every day to collect the dirt; the dirt can stay for more than two to three weeks. We can call on them before they come to collect the dirt.”
He further explained that residents of Waterside, Front and Mechlin Streets also dispose garbage along the road where his shop is situated; 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 are 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,” Ballah added.
Also, a fast food vendor at Water Street commonly known as Ma Musu said, “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 because if the MCC can make it their duty to come for the dirt every day or every two days, it will be much better and the dirt will not be plenty like this,” she concluded.
