By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Maigore Christan Kallon, Executive Director of an environmental group, has said he wants to generate wealth from waste. He said so during the launch of his organization’s latest project titled, Green and Clean Campaign.
Waste management is major problem across the Sierra Leone. In the capital Freetown the situation is even worse. This week the Environment Protection Agency said they are looking to solve the challenges of waste management because it is a major source of air pollution.
The Society for the Conservation of Natural Resources and Culture (SCNRC) Sierra Leone is one of the local organizations the EPA works with.
“We have looked at Sierra Leone in general and we think there is huge problem when it comes to sustainable waste management. We are producing waste and we can’t deal with it,” said Kallon who is the Executive Director of the SCNRC.
“I think from our own background we can come in and nurture the culture of sorting out waste into the system of every Sierra Leonean so we can deal with this problem in a sustainable way,” he added.
Kallon has assembled mostly youths to join him in his drive. He expressed optimism of how much they can achieve together.
“This organization is led by a youth, for this reason we need each and every youth to embark on this project. We are aiming to establish a factory. We can employ ourselves through this,” he said.
The Commissioner of the National Youth Commission, Ngolo Katta, who was part of the launch, expressed support for the initiative and said they would be part of the future work the commission will be doing on waste management.
“We will support it and speak to development partners to support it. We believe if millions of people are involved in waste management, then it will be sustainable,” the commissioner said.
Kallon’s organization has a plan of separating waste in to compost and recycling materials. Then they will use the compost as fertilizers and the recyclable materials will also be sold off.
Having completed these processes, the other portion of the waste that can’t be used as compost or is not recyclable will then be dumped to the land fill sites. Waste management experts at the launch said this will save a lot of space at the dumpsites.
“We know that if we start to separate waste in to compost for fertilizer then we can use it for farming and backyard gardening. We also look at recycling. Other African countries are growing speedily as a result of recycling. If we can also recycle our waste, it can give the country a whole lot of income,” he explained to Politico.
The Freetown City Council is responsible for waste management in the capital. They have always struggled to properly manage the waste generated in the city.
SCNRC says the pilot phase of the project will be to train relevant people in public offices to sort out their wastes before they take their initiative to the homes.
“To achieve the objective on sustainable waste management, the Ssociety has been able provide two dozen baskets for this pilot phase of the project, which eight public offices will benefit directly from with a demonstration of segregating our waste,” Kallon said during the launch.
But their plan involves huge capital, which they say they can’t afford now. However, they believe they can start small whiles looking for support.
“The green and clean campaign for waste management will yield fruit for development. We therefore call on all donors, partners and well-meaning citizens to promote this model on sustainable waste management…” Kallon said.
Mohamed Abdulai Kamara, a Senior Environment Officer at the Environment Protections Agency, said he was encouraged by what he saw and committed his agency’s support to the course.
“Waste we see is wealth. We always collaborate. Our doors are open to NGOs. The management of the environment is everyone’s responsibility,” Kamara added said.
There have been similar initiatives in the past, some of which have failed. But Kallon said his group’s model will be successful with the right support.
“We know if we have the capacity, the funding and the support waste management can become sustainable in this country. Every citizen in this country produces waste. If we embark on a sustainable waste management, we will have a clean environment, and no one will be sick,” he told Politico.
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