The City Mayor of Monrovia, Jefferson T. Koijee has described as a “national threat” the increasing amount of stockpile garbage around Monrovia and its environs and is calling on residents to collaborate with the city government in addressing the situation.
Addressing a news conference Monday at his Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) office, Mayor Koijee said the municipal government is doing everything possible to address the health threat facing residents in the territorial limits of the city but it will also require everyone intervention to solve the problem.
He said the Government of Liberia has been in partnership With the World Bank to address waste issues in the city of Monrovia and its environs but the menace is yet to be resolved.
“We took over with nothing in the budget as city government. We are challenged as a city government. However, we went to President Weah and the amount of US$750,000.00 has been placed in the 2018/2019 national budget for the cleaning of Monrovia.
“Our contribution in the partnership with the World Bank will go toward equipment. The World Bank is contemplating on a new land for wastes to enhance our work. With this, things will not be the same,” he said.
The Mayor was quick to point out that the amount of US$116,000.00 is used weekly just to keep Monrovia clean and green.
The amount, according to Mayor Koijee, is geared toward fuel, oil, heavy duty rental among others.
Meanwhile, Mayor Koijee has announced that in order to maintain the beauty of the city, the city police officers will be deployed at every location where the dirt buckets will be placed for the collection of dirt, and violators will be arrested and dealt with in accordance with the city ordinance of Monrovia.
He said if the buckets are filled with wastes, it wouldn’t be good for residents to drop the dirt on the ground while still roaming the city.
“We have embarked on a 20-day engagement to keep the city clean and green and it requires everyone to get involved. We have over 3500 buckets that will be placed in several locations across the city to collect wastes. Hotlines will be made available to call if the buckets are filled for collection,” he added.
Mayor Koijee furthered:
“This is a national threat or emergency. We need to engage every sector regarding wastes. We are exploring how we can have a public-private partnership in wastes collection. Beginning August 17-18, 2018, we will have a national stakeholder’s conference to address wastes issues in the city. We need to do a comprehensive review of wastes process,” noted.
