A Welcomed Move
PHOTO: Stockpile of uncollected garbage being burnt along the roadside at Chocolate City Junction in Monrovia’s Gardnersville suburb
By Frank Sainworla, Jr., fsainworla@yahoo.com
The cleaning of the mess of garbage seen in this picture taken by this writer on the early evening of Tuesday, March 26, 2024 along the newly built Japan Freeway is just one of many duties the newly launched Joint City Cleaning Taskforce with have to grapple with.
As the Unity Party Alliance government of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai enters its third month, it has launched a joint City Cleaning Taskforce, amid the continuing filthiness of streets and communities with uncollected garbage and feces from sewage lines pouring along street corners in central Monrovia.
Besides the stench generated from the heaps of garbage littering the streets and communities, further environmental pollution also take place with piles of garbage constantly been burned, something that exacerbates the health hazard.
The UP government, which came to power on January 22, 2024 on the promise to improve poor sanitation it inherited from the CDC government of former President George Manneh Weah, said the launch of the joint City Cleaning Taskforce is to enhance sanitation activities across Monrovia and Paynesville Cities.
The task force comprises the Liberia National Police (LNP), the Ministry of Public Works, Monrovia, and Paynesville City Corporations, Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC).
Ahead of President Boakai’s inauguration, the JNB-JKK cleanup campaign team was very active, with scores of volunteers seen sweeping and cleaning streets in Monrovia and other parts, a momentum that virtually dissipated almost soon after inauguration, prompting concerns in some quarters.
And weeks after inauguration, garbage has begun to pile up in various areas, with the general poor sanitation condition returning to business as usual.
So, Tuesday’s launch of the joint City Cleaning Taskforce seems to have generally come as a welcome news to many.
Popular Talk show host, Journalist Clearance Jackson, Manager of OK FM radio on his early morning show today, Wednesday said there is a need for the media and the public to do everything to promote the work of the taskforce which is an imperative.
But Journalist Jackson and others including this writer think that such a move is necessary in line with the city ordinances and that the authorities must follow through with the implementation of the various aspects of the mandate of the joint city cleaning taskforce.
Calling in to the OK FM show, the Managing Director of the LWSA, Mo Ali stressed the need for the implementation of the city cleaning exercise without thinking about whether it will make the incumbent UP government unpopular or not in the upcoming 2029 election, meaning this is not a political campaign issue.
Public Works Minister Roland Giddings said during the launch: “The Taskforce will begin works in early April and will engage in the demolition of make-shift structures along the streets, as well as other illegal structures on the ally way, among others.”
The exercise will be carried out through a consolidated effort to remove waste in and around Monrovia, in support of the Government’s ARREST Agenda, Minister Giddings told a news conference in Monrovia on Tuesday.
For his part, Monrovia City Mayor John Siafa said:
”The work of the Taskforce will lead stakeholders and community engagements in an attempt to create an inclusive process.”
Some sanitation experts believe that a comprehensive and effective waste disposal system must be put in place, there must be straight enforcement of city ordinances and that the success of realizing a clean city/environment must be seen as the collective responsibilities of both the government and citizens and residents alike.