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Momodou
Denmark
11717 Posts |
 Posted - 15 Feb 2007 : 13:27:59
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FEATURE: The NEA and The People - Putting First Things First
By Demba Jawo
Most people are hearing with anxiety the plans by the National Environment Agency (NEA) to introduce legislation making it an offence to litter the streets or public places, no doubt to give a boost to President Jammeh's 'Operation Clean the Nation'. Of course cleanliness is the ideal situation any society would aim for, but is it really attainable in the present situation this country finds itself? The answer is of course a big 'No', not as long as the most basic sanitary facilities such as toilets and even litter bins are absent in our public places.
While it should be the objective of every Gambian to see our country as clean as any other country in the world, but, it certainly takes much more than a piece of legislation to achieve such an ambition. While there is no doubt for instance, that President Jammeh's 'Operation Clean the Nation' is a noble objective, but again, it falls far short of what is required to achieve a clean environment in The Gambia unless certain things are put in their proper perspective.
We all know that the municipalities and area councils do not have the capacity to even collect the domestic waste being generated daily in their areas or even take care of their most basic duties, let alone take on additional responsibilities. Therefore, it makes little environmental sense for the people to be compelled to clean their areas every so often while they are given no means of disposing off the garbage.
We have therefore seen that despite all the noise being made about 'Operation Clean the Nation', the impact on the environment is hardly noticeable. Our towns and villages are getting filthier than ever before. Apart from the lack of basic facilities to dispose off the garbage, it is also mainly because 'Operation Clean the Nation' has been seen by many people as an imposition by President Jammeh rather than a genuine voluntary undertaking by the people. This is no doubt why fewer and fewer people are taking part in it. While President Jammeh and those who carry out his orders have succeeded in restricting the free movements of the people for virtually the whole day every time the exercise is on, but a majority of the people would instead choose to stay at home until when the "curfew" is lifted than take part in the exercise. Of course it is not that they are not interested in cleanliness of the environment, but because they detest the element of compulsion involved in it.
Indeed, the exercise seems to be causing more harm than good to this country's economy because every time it is on, economic activities are brought to a complete halt. We can imagine how many millions of Dalasi are lost to the economy, particularly the private sector such as the banks and other commercial concerns every time there is a cleaning exercise. This is certainly a big disincentive to investors who consider every minute as important. Therefore, if investors are forced every so often to close down their businesses for a whole day in order to clean their environment, then it would not be surprising if many of them decide to relocate to other countries where they would be free to operate their businesses without any undue interference. It certainly does not make much economic sense to invite investors while at the same time, subject the private sector to so much executive interference in their daily activities, including the numerous unnecessary public holidays.
This is in addition to the hardship that 'Operation Clean the Nation' also causes to ordinary Gambians who have other important businesses to transact, particularly when taxis and commercial vehicles are not allowed to operate within the period of the exercise. It is indeed hard to see the rationale of preventing the ordinary people from their only means of transportation while those at the top continue to use government vehicles to transact their businesses and those of their families.
Going back to the NEA proposals to enact an anti-littering legislation, one would wonder how it can be enforced when there are hardly any litter bins in public places where people can drop their litter. It also does not make any sense for instance, to make a law in this country which forbids people from urinating in the streets and other public places when there are no public toilets in any of our towns and villages.
We can all recall that in the past, there used to be at least some public toilets in various parts of Banjul, but that is hardly the case nowadays, despite all the noise being made about 'Operation Clean the Nation'. It is amazing that despite the dramatic increase in the population of our urban centres, the authorities have still not seen the urgent need to provide such basic sanitary facilities. It therefore makes no sense for the NEA to expect people not to urinate and even defecate in the streets, because it is a natural phenomenon which cannot be avoided.
Therefore, if indeed the NEA are really serious about enacting and enforcing such legislation, then they should first ensure that such basic facilities are available and the municipalities and area councils are given the ability to collect and dispose off the garbage in their areas. Otherwise, the enactment of such legislation would be a waste of time and energy as it would never be enforced, even though a few unfortunate people will be molested over it.
Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 18/2007, 14-15 February, 2007
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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jambo
3300 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2007 : 13:50:27
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| ask people not to litter the streets in gambia, i have seen people do more than that in the streets, this kind of scheme takes money, manpower and motivation |
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toubab1020
12311 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2007 : 14:17:16
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This plan of the President is good no doubt about that,I do agree with Jambo that this costs,in order to improve the situation vehicles and disposal facilities are required.The Gambian people on the whole approve of opertaion clean the nation,its a social event and gets people together doing something for their community.As a knock on effect of this those gutters that are a source of many illnesses will not be filled with rubbish,I wonder what made the President make this his project,I shall be very interested to see which company is awarded the contract to fullfill this,as it is sadly apparant that Local Councils havn't got the remotest idea of how to effectivly manage such functions
As I say Look out for a contract for a new company.
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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