‘Garbage dump sites emit smoke dangerous to humans’ – AESPD Program Manager

Freetown, Nov. 21 (SLENA) – Action for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development (AEPSD) has ended a one day workshop on Chemical Management and how to develop Action Plan on harmful chemicals.

Giving his statement at the opening of the workshop which was held at the Ramsy House at Liverpool Street in Freetown, the Programme Manager, Abubakarr Mansaray, said AEPSD is a community-based organization that works on environmental issues which are integral component for sustainable development. He stated that the workshop was one of the Waste Management projects in the country.

Waste Management, he said, does not only encompass solid waste but also smoke that comes from dump sites. The smoke, he went on, needs urgent management as science has proven that smoke coming out from dumping sites has huge amount of dangerous chemicals that pose a threat to humans as it is dangerous to the immune system and causes cancer, skin diseases and affects the reproductive system.

The programme Manager made reference to the health hazards residents living near the city dump sites at Kingtom and the Kissy-Bai Bureh Road are exposed to.

The workshop’s outcome, he said, should see participants who are drawn from people living near the dump sites, teachers, students, councilors develop action plans that focus primarily on significantly decreasing smoke emission from dump sites, adding that as an organization, AEPSD expects enhancement of policies on the issue.

AEPSD’s Executive Director, Ibrahim Joe Samai, said their organization focused on environmental advocacy with particular reference to pollutant chemical emissions emanating from dump sites. “Such smoke is hazardous to humans and kills slowly,” he reiterated, adding that the chemicals coming out from those sites are from materials such as plastics, disused rubber tires, among others. He said burning of those materials are not a proper way of managing waste but recycling is the best practice.

As a group, Mr. Samai said that they are embarking on advocacy involving community people and other stakeholders to help solve the problem. He disclosed that using advocacy tools AEPSD has created a lot of impact through building the capacity of people as they have become proactive in terms of managing waste.

Welcoming the participants earlier, Madam Mbalu encouraged them to pay attention to the experience they are going to gain in order for them to be able to capacitate others and to disseminate the message to their communities, schools, universities, etc.

AF/OVP/SLENA

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