By Minkailu Lawrence Koroma
The Freetown City Council on Tuesday, December 20, 2022, received two vacuum trucks and semi mechanized equipment from Goal Sierra Leone for the transformation of liquid waste.
In handing over the equipment to FCC, the programme director of Goal Sierra Leone, Getu Debella, referred to the project as “a promulgation of a private-public partnership”.
Mr. Debella said that private companies must have or ought to have a huge responsibility in transforming Freetown and Sierra Leone as a whole. He said that private companies must help to achieve the agenda of FCC to transform liquid waste.
As private companies, he referred to their roles as technical advisers to FCC.
The Mayor of Freetown, Vyonne Aki-Sawyer said solid waste include plastic bags and waste around our homes; and liquid waste as waste produced by human bodies. She said that when they took over office in 2018, the statistics of proper liquid waste management was six percent. She said, for a long time, these liquid waste are poorly deposited at the King Tom dumpsite. She further said that when they took office, their goal was to collect 60 percent of both solid and liquid waste and properly disposed of them.
“When we came, we said that these liquid waste should not only be collected, but should be safely disposed at the correct site,” the Mayor said. According to her, one of the greatest things that made them to partner with FCDO and Goal-SL was to build a waste water treatment site in order to achieve to their goal. She said that FCC has been able to provide a well-protected liquid wastes dumpsite that enhances the separation of the gray water from the solid wastes. She said, “That solid waste will be used to produce manures for farmers. She said in the future, they will be transforming the faucal matters into charcoal for cooking and they are presently working on the analysis of achieving this goal. The Mayor said that the two new vehicles will be used to collect liquid waste (fecal matters) in different homes around the city. The e-Vac machines will be used to collect liquid wastes from homes where the new trucks cannot easily reach.
According to her, FCC has given the task to two waste management partners to manage the trucks on the basis of leasing. She called on the public to report cases of any overflowed sepsis by dialing 8244. She also called on the public to call 8244 for any inquiries on who to collect liquid waste and the amount to pay for its collection.
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According to her, FCC bought two waste management trucks which has been in operation since 2018. With the addition of the two new vacuum trucks, FCC has now four waste management trucks. She concluded by admonishing Freetownians to dial 8244 to collect their liquid wastes.