- Alfred Fornah
SIERRA LEONE’S NEW NATIONAL CLEANING DAY WILL SAVE LIVES
We whole-heartedly welcome President Bio’s first executive order instituting a regular Saturday clean-up, coming into effect tomorrow, Saturday May 5th and then the first Saturday of each every month. A true partnership between our citizens, local and national government and MASADA aims to achieve permanently clean streets and by keeping our culverts and drains flowing freely prevent otherwise avoidable flooding during this upcoming rainy season.
President Bio instituted the monthly National Cleaning Day, through his first Executive Order, signed April 9th, to clean up our communities before the rainy season intensifies. This is a good first step to effectively rid us of dirt and plastic polluting our environment, drainages and culverts suffer and save us from a repeat of the tragic events of 16th September 2016 and 14th August 2017 that busted us with hindsight and which robbed the lives of thousands of our fellow countrymen and women. Other West African nations, like Ghana's health ministry, are overseeing similar exercises in the hope of avoiding repeat flooding disasters.
Many of our older folk will recall how clean were our streets when citizens played their full part and took responsibility for cleaning outside their homes and the cry was oft heard “Drop your dirty in front of your own place not ours!” when children dropped litter, albeit in slightly fruitier langauge.
Those who criticize its applicability must know that the new National Cleaning Day is the only avenue to save us from another preventable death toll. Our nation has undergone much destruction over the years, so instituting a monthly Saturday clean-up will surely prove a win-win situation for both our new government and our people.
The mountains of rubbish piling our streets provide an ideal breeding ground for cholera, and a safe haven for vermin like rates, mice and cockroaches, spreading disease and causing diarrhoea. Our mountainous waste also leaves an unsavoury first impression on first-time visitors to our otherwise beautiful nation, undermining our desire to be a destination of choice for eco-tourism.
Before the election we called on all parties to put the environment above party politics and President Bio’s early action in introducing a monthly National Cleaning Day on the first Saturday of every month deserves the support of all of our citizens and we must all play our part. This is an opportunity to save ourselves from ourselves. If we all commit to making this a success Sierra Leone will surely be on the road to environmental sanity.
