By Saio Marrah
A few hours after we published a story about a new garbage dump on the road leading to Fourah Bay College, the authorities at the college have moved to clean up what was becoming an embarrassing development for the college community and their neighbors.
Politico witnessed the cleaning exercise on Saturday morning to see college staff using their vehicles to transport mounds of rubbish that the Freetown City Council has ignored despite complaints from people living in the area.
Prince Lansana who supervised the exercise told Politico that they embarked on the cleaning because the rubbish was blocking the main road leading to the college campus and that it was not good for the image of the university.
He said they observed the rubbish pile up for a week or so and that even though clearing the mess is the responsibility of the Freetown City Council they had to go in and do the job.
Lansana pointed out that they first got in touch with the FCC office located at the Model Junction regarding the cleaning of the illegal dump site but that the FCC did not take any significant steps.
Commenting on the way forward in stopping the community people from dumping garbage on the site, he said they were in talks with the youths at the nearby car wash on how best they can establish a guard post for that purpose.
The Operation Officer of the FBC security structure, Joseph Mattia said the cleaning exercise was initiated after concerns were expressed with respect to the illegal dump site and the danger it may cause for students and administrators.
Mohamed Sesay and Michael Kamara, residents of the area were caught red-handed dumping garbage when the university personnel went to conduct the exercise. They were also seen among the personnel undertaking the cleaning exercise.
Politico contacted the FCC through its communication lead for reactions, but she referred us to the head of the sanitation department who couldn’t be reached at the time of press.
Copyright © 2024 (Politico (22/01/24)
