Plastic Waste is a Recipe for Flooding in Slum Communities
A research has proved that the indiscriminate dumping of plastic waste is the major cause of flooding among people living in slum communities especially in the height of the raining season.
According to testimonies from slum dwellers, the Freetown City Council (FCC) has deployed a robust cleaning team that will be in charge of clearing plastic waste from drainages to prevent eminent flooding which have exposed inhabitants to danger.
They showered praises to the Mayor of Freetown City Council (FCC), Her Lordship, Yvonne Akie Sawyer for demonstrating determination to give Freetown a facelift like our sister countries in the sub-region. The frustrated citizens affirmed that since the start of the rains, the Council has been able to manage sewage disposal for the safety of slum dwellers in disaster prone areas.
They called on line agencies and organization to join the fight against indiscriminate dumping of plastic because according to them, FCC cannot succeed without collaborative effort.
Study unearthed that plastic waste materials are mostly dumped by street traders along main streets in Freetown like Guard Street, Bombay Street, Hagan Street, Fisher Street, Abacha Street, Malama Thomas Street and beyond.
It was recommended that FCC needs to implement Bye-laws to reduce the alarming indiscriminate dumping of plastic waste.
It was also discussed that the piles of garbage along main water channels or drainages do not allowed water to pass freely, thereby given way to flooding.
In a sad mood, inhabitants of slum areas expressed fear over rumor doing the round on social media that the Ministry of Lands Country Planning and the Environment will soon evacuate people from all slum communities without relocation package.
Big Wharf community members have said that they are courageous over the way and manner their drainages have been cleared during the two national monthly cleaning exercises.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of National Security (ONS) and many organizations and individuals have expressed believed that the issue of plastic waste will soon be a thing of the past with regular engagement with plastic manufacturing companies in the country including G. Shankerdas and Sons, Kadco Sierra Leone Limited, Mega Cola Company and Milla Group of Company to provide support in the area of controlling plastic pollution to minimize flooding.
The need for the intervention of the Ministry of Lands, MOHS and other concerned stakeholders to educate slum dweller on the reason to properly manage waste material was also discussed.
Moreover, the increases in population in those slum communities have created more burdens for FCC, EPA, ONS and the Sierra Leone Police (SLP).
By Alhassan Bangura
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