By Edwin M. Fayia, III
One of Liberia uncontrollable empty plastic bags mess is its disposal in the century old clogged drainages in Monrovia and its suburbs, with this staggering menace needing urgent attention.
A two-week random sample survey amongst Liberians by this writer points to the fact that the best option and alternative are banning, enforcement of municipal regulations and above all a well-crafted legislation as genuine solutions to the plastic bags menace.
Drainages, fields and streets in Monrovia, Paynesville the Bushrod Island as well as many other places are littered with plastic bags, which experts say take more than a lifetime to be decomposed. Stuck in the soil, plastic poses serious environmental implications.
Interestingly, in the East African nation of Kenya, the government there has finally drilled the last nail in coffin of plastic bags by banning the wanton disposal of plastic bags in every part of that populous nation.
In every commercial transactions at market places, pharmacies and stores, plastic bags dominate. Statistics show that a little over one million empty plastic bags are dropped at any available space in the country.
This is said to pose serious environmental threat. Such a huge rate of disposal of plastic bags waste is happening with no recycling system in place to contain the menace. Urban and some rural farmers in many parts of the country are also faced with the long-term consequencies.
Approximately ten years from now, urban and rural farmers may likely encounter food insecurity and massive poverty in several parts of the country, local environmentalists have been warning.
The wanton disposal of plastic bags by Liberians and even their foreign friends in several parts of the country has been described by concerned health personnel and environmentalists as not only worrisome but stressful by all accounts.
The woes of plastic bags most often found in the decades old and fashion designed drainages are so grave to the extent that the situation is becoming insurmountable to the municipal governments of Monrovia and Paynesville.
Besides, even the remote settlements of Montserrado and other urban cities of Kakata, Buchanan, Gbarnga and Tubmanburg in Margibi, Grand Bassa and Bomi Counties.
Some classic examples of the wanton disposal of empty plastic bags in Montserrado County include and are not limited to the Red-Light, Waterside, Duala and Rally Time Markets as well as various other markets in Paynesville and Monrovia.
Several prominent officials of the Liberian Government have on many occasions voiced their concerns about the grave sanitation and environmental crisis of Monrovia and several urban cities.
But no concrete action has been taken so far.
As the Christmas and New Year festivities draw nearer, Liberians in many parts of the country are bracing themselves to be greeted by the mountains of garbage embellished with plastic bags.
Public Works Minister William Gyude Moore is on record earlier this year to have announced that a vigorous campaign would have been initiated by his ministry and partners to collect and dispose of the millions of plastic bags in Monrovia and its environs.
A survey conducted by this news organ shows that periurban farmers and back yard gardeners are now encountering grave challenges, due to the wanton disposal of plastic bags and other unfriendly environmental wastes in several parts of Monrovia and Paynesville.
As a result of the unpredictable weather pattern associated with climate change, most of the urban farmers and gardeners have begun to express serious concern about the environmental degradation and its effects on the production of vegetables and other cash crops in Paynesville and some of Monrovia.
Liberia does not have any official recycling factory to handle the grave menace of plastic bags and their long-term effect on the Liberian environment. The country’s vital marine resources in the various mangrove swamps and rivers in and around Monrovia and the city of Paynesville are also being seriously threatened.
To date, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials had only preoccupied themselves with hosting conferences, seminars and workshops.
But the practical implementation of various sanitation and environmental programs and projects are yet to be seen in Monrovia and other surrounding settlements.
Meanwhile, plastic bags use and disposal in fields, drainages, rivers, streams and garbage sites remain the order of the day.