By Mohamed Foday Conteh
Kissy Dock Yard community has called on authorities responsible to relocate the garbage dumpsite (bomeh) as they believe it poses serious health and environmental issues to the community.
Located in the east end of Freetown, it is arguably the largest dumpsite in Freetown that admits huge tons of waste on a daily basis.
The chairman of Dock Yard community, Sheku Kamara said that the dumpsite puts the community at risk from pollution and water borne diseases over the years. He said several accidents have occurred at Bai Bureh Road, the site of the dumpsite, during the dry season as a result of the smog which overcomes the entire community. Kamara said that during the wet season, plastic and other waste materials block the only waterway of Granville Brook (Kissy Brook) which causes flooding at a settlement called Culvert.
“The smog causes respiratory diseases especially for our elders,” the chairman said. He added that one Pa Alhaji who was residing close to the dumpsite was diagnosed with lung related disease whilst on visit in England. He said that water- borne diseases like cholera and diarrhea are prevalent in the wet season especially among children.
Kamara, who has been a resident of Kissy for the past 30 years of which half of it as a resident of Dock Yard, said that the dumpsite is unsuitable at its present location since it lies along the highway that is the frequently used route for foreign tourists arriving in the capital Freetown. He added that several consultative meetings have been held with stakeholders from the community and Freetown City Council (FCC) for the past 5 years but it bore no positive result.
Ibrahim Mansaray, a resident and trader who has been living in Dock Yard for over 20 years, said that the stench from the dumpsite is unbearable. “During the wet season we are left with no choice but to apply incense because the foul odor is unbearable,” Mansaray added. Commenting on community engagement, he claimed the FCC representative seemed to be treating the issue with levity.
Bintu Daphne Konjoh is the Councillor for Ward 415 which covers the whole of Dock Yard community. She said that the issue has been a troubling one and that it was only last year after a flooding at Culvert that she was invited to witness the damage. Councillor Bintu further added that pupils attending schools in the community are also affected especially when smog overcomes the classrooms. “All schooling activities are halted and there was a time when two asthmatic pupils had attacks due to smog,” she said.
Although there are several meetings being held with a Committee set up by FCC, there is still no clear path for the people of the community. The smoke still bellows like a medieval locomotive train.
Isatu Bangura, who has been a shopkeeper at Ferry Junction for over 10 years, said that the dumpsite has been more unbearable in this past couple of years. “It is not ideal for this dumpsite to be at this location –the gateway to the city,” she observed. She said although there were less people living in the vicinity at the time the dumpsite was established, the population exploded after the war and the place is now a large residential area.
The Assistant Director of Public Relations and Inter-sectoral Collaboration of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), James Tamba Kamara acknowledged that the dumpsite is an environmental crisis as people in the community are exposed to toxic substances that could cause respiratory diseases.
Kamara added that the EPA has been collaborating with partners to ensure that such issues are resolved swiftly. He stated that although plastic companies are willing to recycle their waste, he however emphasized that it is equally the business of the citizenry to mend their attitude with regards to plastic waste. “People should implement the three R rules which are to REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE.
Plastic recycling is a big business in other countries. Sierra Leone, however, has taken to it with a snail pace although the use of plastic is on the increase. In essence, Freetown produces over 500 tons of waste a day with a substantial part of it being plastic waste.
While solutions are being proffered to ameliorate this malaise, it is equally safe to posit that there is no guarantee that the relocation will be done anytime soon especially when the land identified by the FCC is located at Hastings –an area within the jurisdiction of the Western Area Rural District Council.
Meanwhile, the 15,000 residents of Dock Yard are still being exposed to tropospheric ozone (O3), primary particulate matter such as pollen and dust, and secondary particulate matter such as Sulphur oxides, volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and ammonia gas. These gases, according to the US Center for Disease Control (CDC), could cause premature deaths.
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