By Makutu Manneh
Lamin Juwara, a political analyst, has urged the Brikama Area Council (BAC) and Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) to put aside their rivalry and develop a joint strategy to address persistent waste management problems in their jurisdictions.
Speaking on Kerr Fatou’s Politic Kaacha show, Juwara said the two councils were grappling with what he described as the “same sickness”, mounting waste, but appeared more focused on comparing their performances than learning from each other.
Despite investments in waste collection, including KMC’s purchase of 22 waste management vehicles and similar efforts by BAC, Juwara said garbage remained a visible problem in both municipalities.
“We all see their environments,” he said. “What I think they should do is for the two councils to sit together, including the Banjul City Council, and come up with a strategy for a joint investment to solve that problem.”
Juwara said the councils share similar responsibilities to their residents and face many of the same challenges through their respective “Mbalit” waste management initiatives. Rather than competing over which council has performed better, he said, they should be willing to exchange ideas and pursue solutions together.
He also argued that purchasing garbage trucks alone would not solve the problem, saying greater attention should be paid to changing public attitudes and practices around waste disposal.
“Buying these waste vehicles is one thing, but it is another thing to educate those people on how to manage their waste,” Juwara said. “None of these councils have that investment.”
Juwara also questioned the timing of recent cleanup exercises organized by the ruling National People’s Party (NPP), noting that they were taking place during an election year.
He said poor waste management had been a longstanding problem and argued that political parties should not wait until an election approaches to address it. He cautioned against turning a problem affecting residents’ daily lives into an opportunity for political point-scoring.
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