By Madiba Singhateh
The residents of Kotu and environ, have complained of the terrible odour that emanates from the Sanitary field in the swamps near the hotel area.
Residents indicate to this reporter that the past few months saw them breathing the disgusting smell from the site. Many people lament that they don’t know why the smell continues to escalate day by day.
One Marie Jallow Faye, said the smell has not only made it uncomfortable to live their lives, but that they find it difficult to enjoy their meals because of the stench; that she made several calls to the Ministry of Health regarding the issue, but to no avail.
Ndey Jatta of the same community, also voices her frustration regarding the foul odour and said the smell comes from the site; that the situation is gradually getting out of hand as the smell spreads to other environments.
Lamin Sanneh, another resident of the area said the Sanitary Company is not coming out plain to the people; that the Company is not applying the required chemicals at the site.
When contacted by the reporter, the Human Resources Officer at the Aqua Sanitary Field Amadou Camara, spoke differently.
Camara said the reason for the smell is because of the unwanted chemicals thrown in the field; that trucks from Tanji and Kartong, empty their solid waste at the site which is basically meant for industrial waste disposal but not waste that comes from fish processing factories.
Camara said the site has been in existence for more than half a decade, and has never smell like this; that when the smell started, they notified the authorities that something was wrong somewhere before they knew it was coming from the fish industry; that the problem will soon be resolved as their heads have met with the authorities from the National Environment Agency and the Minister, regarding the issue.
However, it was put to this reporter that the Minister had earlier visited the area amid complaints from the public.
