An
initiative designed to rid the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown of filth and
dirt has been announced.
‘Operation
Clean Freetown’ is the latest project under the President’s Recovery
Priorities’ (PRP), the post-Ebola development initiative being funded by the UK
government.
Under this project,
the Freetown City Council and the Western Area Rural District Council will work
alongside relevant government ministries to roll out several projects designed
to encourage residents to clean their environment regularly. It also seeks to
improve on the city’s waste management infrastructure and promote waste
management entrepreneurship among the youths.
“Rubbish and
waste in Freetown’s streets, waterways and gutters is polluting the city’s
streets and contaminating its waters, leading to an increase in diseases such
as malaria, typhoid and diarrhea,” the PRP, which is headed by the Chief of
Staff at the office of President, said in a statement.
It said the initiative
will be implemented in phases. The first phase will notably see waste
collection points in the city and its environs increased to 77, and youths will
be trained and equipped as door-to-door waste collection micro-enterprises.
Phase two
will see the introduction of a compulsory subscription fee for all households
for regular waste collection from the youths groups.
The final
phase will see the introduction of bylaws and their enforcement on waste
collection and management for inhabitants. There will also be an annual
competition among the various wards that make up Freetown for cleanliness.
Rural-urban
migration has made Freetown highly over populated, so that services like waste
management have become near impossible to provide.
[First
published on www.apanews.net]
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