- Alfred Fornah
CITIZENS TAKE BACK CONTROL OF OUR STREETS ON FIRST NATIONAL CLEANING DAY
I can be proud that our citizens took back control of their neighborhoods and communities so enthusiastically on Sierra Leone’s first National Cleaning Day, reclaiming our streets from the litter and plastic pollution that has long-plagued our nation. Everyone played their part in the big Saturday clean up including our new vice President and First lady, Madam Bio, joyfully joining citizens helping clean up Freetown!
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 and environment ministries and departments, are overseeing similar exercises in the hope of avoiding repeat flooding disasters.
Imagine how clean our streets will be with such continuing efforts of a regular monthly clean up on the first Saturday of each and every month. Most importantly, with clean gutters and drains, water will flow freely through Freetown during rainy season, preventing avoidable flooding and surely saving lives.
Our Vice President who joined the cleaning exercise expressed happiness regarding the commitment of Sierra Leoneans towards the cleaning. Speaking to press men during the cleaning exercise on Saturday 5th May 2017, Dr Juldeh Jalloh said : ‘’ I am impressed of the collaborative efforts demonstrated by all sectors of the society and the personal sacrifices made by many Sierra Leoneans to clean their various communities’’
He said the 5th of May 2018 is the first day for their newly-instituted cleaning exercise. “Even though there are some challenges during this first exercise, but people are overcoming the challenges because of their determination to clean the country’’.
However, many health problems citizens suffer will also be mitigated – dirty providing an ideal breeding ground for cholera and cleaned up there will no longer be a safe haven for verminous rats, mice and cockroaches, no longer rampantly spreading disease.
According to the Minster of Health and Sanitation Dr Alpha Wurie he is happy about the efforts of the people to clean their environment. This exercise he said has a lot of health benefits.
With such clean streets the first and lasting impression visitors receive of our beautiful nation will boost our
determined claim to be a destination of choice for tourists and eco-tourism.
Our first National Cleaning Day can be therefore be judged a success enjoying high levels of support from our citizens working in true partnership with local government services, waste removal company MASADA and over 150 UNDP-trained specialists making a real impact on the streets of Freetown and throughout our nation.
“Our communities will be clean and beautiful if we all do our bit to clean and properly disposed our waste and keep our environment plastic free’’ said Salami Kanu, Executive Director for Climate Change Forum Network, a youth led environmental awareness campaign group. He added that youth coming together to effectively participate in the cleaning exercise is a great way to tackle Sierra Leone environmental problems.
But one unintended consequence of the first Saturday Clean Up was the pall of acrid smoke that hung above Freetown for much of the day as some residents ignored advice and burnt their dirty.
For Freetown residents, this is indeed a familiar sight – burning plastics and tyres is a common practice and it is right to acknowledge that for some hillside and mountain top residents it is a long and arduous trek to the waste collection points - but this practice has serious health consequences for our citizens and our environment alike and is one which shows there is still much sensitization work to do for campaigning organizations and for local and national government who must help set the tone for successful community activism moving forward.
Also, issues of attitudes and perceptions appear to affect both inhabitants and authorities regarding solid waste management in Freetown. Solid waste problem is partly the result of Freetown Waste Management Company’s inability to cope with the waste management situation because of lack of equipment, personnel, and inadequate funding. Therefore, I recommend that the waste management authority’s effort in the area of education should be intensified in order to sensitize the people on the need to keep the surroundings clean and also how to properly dispose their waste. The participation of the private sector, NGOs’ and the international community in offering adaptable solutions towards improving waste management situation in Freetown is also needed.
Before the 2018 National elections, some of us engaged 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.
Meanwhile Sierra Leone is presently ranked at the bottom of the Environmental Performance Index, 163 out of 163 countries in 2010, indicating phenomenal regression since the end of the civil war. The 2013 Verisk Maplecroft Index ranked Sierra Leone the 3rd most vulnerable to climate change in the world (or the 3rd country in the world with the least capacity to respond or adapt to environmental change). About 13 percent of the country's area and more than 35 percent of the population are at risk to disasters. In the last 15 years, 4 major floods have affected 220,000 people and caused severe loss and economic damage.
Moreover, with such bold, yet practical, environmental and climate action activity like the national cleaning exercise, surely Sierra Leone will reverse it environmental problems including plastic pollution, turn the corner and become a jewel in the community of African nations
