The Kanifing Municipal Council is responsible for solid waste disposal within the municipality and has designated the Bakoteh dumpsite for that purpose. However, it was unable to cope with the management of the dumpsite resulting to serious health issues for the communities in the immediate vicinity of the dumpsite. There has been a lot of publicity in the media before but the issue was ignored until the protests of the communities brought the matter to the fore and dumping of waste at the dumpsite was halted.
But this is not a solution because residents in the municipality at large will find alternative means of disposing of their waste which can cause serious harm to the environment and health problems.
The KMC cannot stay aloof of this problem. They need to come up with a solution that will meet the needs of both the Bakoteh/Manjai communities and the Municipality at large. To fail to do so will be to abdicate its responsibility. They should come up with workable concrete plans and pursue dialogue vigorously.
