By Tamba Borbor, Public Relations Officer
Welthungerhilfe, a German international Non-Governmental Organization has on Tuesday 7th July 2020 commenced a four-day training of youth groups on waste collection in Koidu City.
The Human Resource Officer of the Koidu New Sembehun City Council, Josiah Kondewa in his opening statement as Chairman of the occasion stated that the dream of residents of Koidu is to see the city become one to be very proud of in terms of environmental sanitation and hygiene. He expressed hope that the trainees would make good use of the opportunity offered by WHH to allow them acquire life skills for self-reliance.
Ansu Bangura, the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEAL) Officer of WHH gave a brief background about the project and the set objectives in ensuring effective and integrated waste collection and management in the municipality as it would reform the sector.
He maintained that the project in Koidu would not fail because the Mayor of Koidu is a developmentally-oriented person in addition to the fact that all the experiences gained in Bo, Makeni and Kenema in waste management would be implemented in Koidu.
Ansu urged the trainees to take advantage of the opportunity offered in the training sessions to acquire life skills for self-reliance.
Deputy Head of Project of WHH SLE 1048, Thomas Foray stressed that a clean environment ensures a healthy populace; adding that WHH is determined to build the capacity of the Koidu City Council and youth in the waste sector for the benefit of the people.
Samuel Hinga Navo, the Manager of Bo Waste Management Department gave a synopsis of the entire concept of waste management which he says is geared towards achieving zero waste in communities.
He inspired the trainees by explaining about his journey in the waste sector which he noted has benefited him a lot. He motivated them to be serious with the training which would benefit them soon.
Newly transferred Environment and Social Officer- Nanah Jalloh-Conteh stressed that the people of Koidu should be consistently sensitized on the need to pay for their waste which she noted they are not used to.
She admonished the youth waste collectors to be diligent in their duty and respect their prospective customers. “For a start, you should not raise the collection fee so high so that you would get more customers,” adding that the trucks must be properly taken care of and maintained. The project, Mrs. Conteh , maintained is an opportunity that should be well utilized by all fortunate to be involved.
The Mayor of Koidu City, Mathew Komba Sam in his keynote statement encouraged the youth groups meticulously selected to grab the opportunity with both hands while urging that they have the responsibility to ensure the project succeeds.
He recalled how he was able to convince and lobby with WHH to intervene in waste management in Koidu city which posed a huge challenge then.
“Ever since the history of the Council, there has never been a time wherein we have an organization involved in waste management that provides rice for the people in exchange for plastic waste geared towards involving the people in cleaning the city,” Mayor Sam noted; urging the youth groups to put proper systems in place to succeed in their waste collection drive.
He disclosed that research done by GIZ and WHH informs that 63% of residents of Koidu are willing to pay for their waste which he says provides the environment for waste collection businesses to thrive.
Mayor Komba Sam appealed to the trainees to be serious during the sessions and acquire invaluable knowledge and skills for the task ahead.
He thanked WHH for the tremendous assistance provided to his Council and the people of Koidu City. The two youth groups were trained in business management and waste collection.
