Tallinding South Councillor Says Residents, Private Businesses Are Straining KMC Market Waste Collection

By Makutu Manneh

Karamo Ceesay, the Tallinding South councillor at the Kanifing Municipal Council, has pushed back against suggestions that persistent waste collection problems at markets are caused by a shortage of garbage trucks, saying the larger problem is that bins intended for market waste are also being used by nearby residents and private businesses.

Speaking on Kerr Fatou’s Politic Kachaa program, Ceesay said the council’s 22 garbage trucks are primarily assigned to community waste collection, while three open trucks and skip bins are used to collect waste from markets.

“The problem is that instead of using the skip bins, traders, residents, and business owners dump waste outside them,” Ceesay said.

He pointed to Latrikunda and Serekunda as examples of the pressure on the system. In Latrikunda, he said, a skip bin intended to serve the market is also being used by roughly 20 nearby properties and residential compounds, as well as private businesses.

Ceesay said Latrikunda also has three privately operated markets whose waste adds to what the council must collect.

He described a similar situation in Serekunda, where he said several private markets, businesses, and residential compounds rely on the same waste collection points.

“Within that area, you have residential compounds there too,” he said. “All these people throw their waste there.”

Ceesay said the volume would be more manageable if the collection points were handling only waste generated by the markets. But when households, private businesses, and privately operated markets use the same facilities, he said, the bins quickly become overwhelmed and the council struggles to keep pace.

The problem becomes more difficult during the rainy season, he said, particularly in September and October, when conditions at the Bakoteh dumpsite deteriorate. Heavy rains leave parts of the site muddy and make it difficult for garbage trucks to enter and unload.

Ceesay said KMC had previously worked with the Brikama Area Council and Banjul City Council to gain access to alternative dumping sites during the rainy season. That arrangement with BAC eventually ended, he said, after the council objected to receiving KMC’s waste, even though waste from the Brikama area had previously been taken to Bakoteh.

KMC is now trying to improve access within the Bakoteh dumpsite, Ceesay said, including by creating access roads that would allow garbage trucks to continue reaching dumping areas during difficult weather conditions.