By Frank Sainworla, Jr. fsainworla@yahoo.com
This is Central Monrovia—at the intersection of two popular streets—Carey and Buchanan– on the eve of Liberia’s 171st Independence Anniversary, July 26, 2018.
The heap of garbage here in this part of the Liberian capital is a replica of what is seen in other parts of Monrovia and communities in the suburbs, even as this nation approaches its second century of existence as a Republic.
For the pedestrians, the stench that emerges from these uncollected stockpile of rubbish is just unbearable.
“Year-in, year-out, we fail to get our solid waste management system right,” one environmentalist said as Liberia prepares to celebrate July 26.
Just this week, the Sonniewen area in downtown Monrovia has been overwhelmed with garbage, something that led authorities of a local clinic in the area to temporarily close due to extreme pollution.
The Red-light area is known to be the largest commercial center in Monrovia’s Paynesville suburb, where rotten garbage lay bare for weeks.
Health and other social workers have warned of the threat posed to the health of marketers and residents as a results of huge piles of uncollected garbage, which has caused serious pollution.
Marketers and community residents have over the years been subjected to unhygienic environment, due to the garbage situation at the Red-light and nearby communities.
The marketers on numerous occasions called on past governments to intervene by clearing the huge stockpile of garbage, but to no avail.
The President of the Liberia Marketing Association (LMA) has made several appeals to authorities to help rescue them from the health hazard the marketers and community residents face.
LMA’s President Alice Yeebahn said recently, the garbage has gone beyond their control due to continuous dumping of waste, prompting the need for urgent intervention.
“Community members and marketers continue to dump in the area which has made it very difficult for us to remove the dirt,’’ Madam Yeebahn noted.
Monrovia’s Mayor Jefferson Koijee has himself spoken of the need to address the plight of market women who have to endure this serious problem of pollution from prolonged uncollected garbage.
Many weeks ago, a similar task force was established code named: “The Weah for Clean and Green City Campaign” but our communities remain as they always been for a longer period—littered with rubbish.
This is what the mandate of the task force says: ‘’The Task Force work will include primary and secondary waste collection and disposal, targeting 178 communities and 52 hotspots in Monrovia and Paynesville and environs’’
From past administrations to now, presidential task forces and campaigns have been launched for only a period, but the system to handle efficient garbage collection and disposal is yet to be put in place.
So, as Liberia celebrates 171 years of existence as Africa’s oldest Republic today (Thursday July 26, 2018), the foul smell and piles of garbage is common place on the streets and in various communities in Monrovia and its environs.
Residents of the City and other communities too have a responsibility to do something to help clean their environment daily, and not just on a seasonal basis.