Gambia: Is the Ministry of the Environment Monitoring the Way Waste is Disposed of at the Bakoteh Dumpsite?

Erstveröffentlicht: 
13.07.2017

QUESTION OF THE DAY - The gates are wide open and trucks and donkey carts are dumping waste at the Bakoteh Dumpsite. Instead of managing the waste so that smoke will no longer bother the children at SOS Village and the surrounding homes in Bakoteh and Manjai, those who should be finding a solution to the effect of indiscriminate dumping at the site are trying to find scapegoats.

 

The issues associated with the dumpsite are real. It is an eye sore and thus poses tremendous health risks if not managed properly. The authorities should focus on the concerns of the community. Individuals may have their motivations, political or otherwise. That however does not negate the fact that the health risk posed by the indiscriminate dumping at the Bakoteh Dumpsite does not exclude any person because of political allegiances. All are affected, irrespective of political affiliation and the community as a whole is concerned.

The role of the service provider is to ensure that the promises made by the minister at the National Assembly are pursued to the letter.

The president of the country should be keen to speak to any Gambian on any national or community issue regardless of their political motivations, political or otherwise, in order to address any issue of concern. Every person matters to the person who is given the responsibility to serve all without fear or favour, affection or ill will.