The Women’s Network for Environmental Sustainability (WoNES), with support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), this week organized a stakeholders’ meeting with representatives of 40 plastic producing companies under the project “Waste management and plastic recycling”.
The meeting was held at the Grassroots Gender Empowerment Movement Hall on John Street in Freetown. The programme was chaired by Iyesha Josiah Kamara.
Explaining the purpose of the meeting, Nabeela Tunis, Programme Manager of WoNES, informed that the organisation is currently working with committees it formed specifically, in selected slum communities (Congo Town and Murray Town) in Freetown and that the meeting seeks to deepen discussions along the burning issue of managing plastic waste.
She informed that the exercise will continue for another four weeks and asked the participants to propose innovative ways to effectively dispose of the piles of plastic wastes that are dumped at the Bomeh site.
Tunis said the ideas will be merged with other previous discussions to support a coordinated approach towards the problem of plastic waste. She asked the producers to propose suggestions that do not compromise their service, provision of clean water, to the country.
Tunis also spoke about the organisation’s partnership approach to address environmental issues, its core values and programmatic areas which include education and awareness–raising, advocacy, protection and management of the environment and, gender and social inclusion.
The UNDP representative, Abdul Kebbie, said one of their core mandates is to protect the environment. He underscored that plastics are a danger to the environment as they are made from different chemicals. Plastic waste is currently being converted into jewellery, slippers, floor tiles, coal pots and briquettes in Bo, Port Loko and Makeni and stated that the activity could be expanded as a solution to managing plastic waste.
The chief of Oloshora (Murray Town), Alimamy Mansaray, reiterated that a clean environment would prevent a lot of sicknesses and people from going to hospitals and revealed that producers of plastic products must buy the wastes for recycling.
The President of the Water Producers Association, Johnson, said that they have held several meetings with various stakeholders. Some promised to donate land and import recycling machines.
Other participants reiterated that plastic waste is a big issue. The country is dirty. There must centralized garbage collection points and enforcement of the law. The markets in the city be divided into the products they sell as is the case in other countries. And, participants said, there are no dumpsites in the city. SB/23/11/17
By Saidu Bah
Friday November 24, 2017.