By Demba Bah
The Banjul City Council is faced with a serious challenge of meeting up with the demand of waste collection due to limited manpower and vehicles.
These issues, amongst others, were discussed in the Council’s recent general meeting held on Friday, 14 October 2023 at the McCarthy Square Hall, Banjul.
The agenda for the council meeting includes review of the minutes of the last general meeting of the council, waste management/cleansing services and strategic development plan from 2024 onwards.
However, the councillors noted that the minutes of the last meeting were not available.
Alagie Jah, the supervisor of the cleansing services, provided an update to the general council regarding the challenges of waste management. Some of the councillors expressed discontent over the lack of routine waste collection in the city of Banjul.
Jah said the problem is due to lack of manpower and shortage of vehicles.
“Only one vehicle is currently operating with frequent technical issues to deal with,” Jah said.
He explained that there is no specific timetable for waste collection depending on the demand of the situation. The Mayor promised to address the problems of waste collection in the city during her run for re-election, as it is one of her key campaign promises.
This reporter asked the Director of Governance at the Ministry of Regional Government whether he was aware that Banjul City Council has no Standing Orders. His answer was in the negative and promised to raise the issue in the next general council meeting.
Finally, the importance of having a strategic development plan was emphasised by the CEO and Director of Governance.
However, growing controversies marred the meeting, resulting in the council not dealing with the third agenda of the council. A heated debate between the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor ensued bringing the meeting to an end.
The Director of Governance David Gomez was present, but refused to weigh in on the controversies while observing the proceedings.
The next general Council meeting is scheduled for 24 November 2023.
