By Politico staff writer
The mayor of the Bo City council has told Politico in an interview that the general cleaning exercise done on the last Saturday of every month will be maintained in Bo City.
Mayor Kobba Musa said when he came to power less than a year ago, he re-introduced the cleaning exercise which he described as challenging, given the money required to keep Bo City clean. He said he was prepared to face the challenges head-on along with his staff.
The Mayor said while he acknowledged the concerns of those advocating for the monthly cleaning exercise to be scrapped for the money to be used in other areas of development, he was determined to continue, because “I campaigned for the people’s vote with the promise that I would bring back the cleaning program”. According to him, the “general cleaning exercise is funded from the revenue we generate and we spend up to NLe 60,000 each month to pay drivers and for the use of trucks and purchase of fuel.
He stressed that stopping the cleaning exercise will be a disaster bearing in mind that he will be for re-election in 2028. Mayor Kobba Musa called on the people of Bo to support the cleaning exercise.
A popular WhatsApp chat forum titled: “The Mayor and his People" has witnessed heated discussions about challenges faced by the Bo City Council, BCC in undertaking the cleaning exercise. One member argued that “the general cleaning is not cost-effective at all. President Bio started it but we all know that it has stopped now. Let the Mayor focus on strengthening the normal street cleaning and garbage collection at certain locations on a timely basis.
Another member argued that the central government had to stop the monthly general cleaning because of its financial implications. Why can’t Bo City do the same? I submit that the Council reverts to using "Sanitary Officers or Inspectors. Employ them with attractive salaries and monitor their work to ensure they maintain vigilance. We had them from the 60's to the 90's. I guess almost all other cities have stopped doing the general cleaning. I plead with the mayor and his team to concentrate on revamping and refurbishing the Bo town Hall instead”.
Another participant submitted that" we are talking of the general cleaning that will keep the entire city clean. The general cleaning is in place, let BCC continue with it. It is good advice for BCC to forget about the cleaning and pay attention to those who are cleaning the streets and the market areas. But will they keep the whole city clean? The answer is no because the streets and markets are not the City. In some homes, people clean only on Saturdays, so the general cleaning should continue.”
Bo City Council is the only municipality in Sierra Leone that has maintained a cleaning program first introduced to this country by the NPRC government following the military coup of 1992.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (18/03/24)
