By: Alieu Ceesay
The West Africa Coastal Areas (WACA) Resilience Investment Project has handed over waste management equipment valued at D30 million to address longstanding environmental challenges facing eleven communities along the Kotu Stream in the Kanifing Municipality and West Coast Region.
Officials said the donation forms part of a three-year effort to improve waste collection and reduce flooding risks linked to solid waste blocking the waterway. The project has already conducted community sensitization, public awareness campaigns and training on waste handling and environmental management.
“If they don’t have the equipment to help them keep the environment clean, solid waste and indiscriminate dumping will continue, and there is proof of that,” said Dr Muhammad Lamin Sanyang, WACA Coordinator. He explained that irregular waste collection has been a major problem for residents. “So, in order to respond to that, WACA is here today handing over waste collection equipment to the councils to serve these communities.”
The package includes 12 tricycles, 100 wheelbarrows, 200 trash bins, two tractor heads with trailers, one compactor truck, two trailers with tipping mechanisms, and two tipper trucks. The items were presented to the Brikama Area Council (BAC) and the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC).
The initiative seeks to build a sustainable waste management system that keeps the Kotu Stream clear and strengthens climate resilience in the affected areas.
Brikama Area Council Chairman Yankuba Darboe described the ceremony as more than a simple handover. He called it a tangible demonstration of partnership and shared responsibility in protecting vulnerable communities. The equipment, he said, marks a significant boost to the council’s waste management capacity.
“These tools will directly enhance our ability to keep communities along the Kotu Stream clean, safe and resilient against climate-related risks. Waste management is not just about sanitation. It is about public health, dignity and sustainable development,” Chairman Darboe stated. He assured WACA that the equipment would be put to effective use and expressed gratitude for the project’s commitment to local governance and environmental resilience.
Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Lands, Regional Government and Religious Affairs, Mukhtar Darboe, warned that environmental degradation and littering along the Kotu Stream create serious ecological and public health risks. Improper waste disposal clogs waterways, worsens urban flooding during the rainy season and lowers the quality of life in surrounding municipalities.
“The equipment being handed over today provides our beneficiary local authorities with concrete operational tools to strengthen solid waste management at the grassroots level,” he said. He urged the councils to deploy the machinery effectively, maintain it properly and integrate it into sustainable, community-driven clean-up strategies along the stream corridor. Residents living near the waterway were also called upon to take ownership of their environment by using the new disposal facilities responsibly and supporting efforts to keep the Kotu Stream clean.
Project officials and local leaders expressed hope that the equipment will help break the cycle of dumping that has long threatened both public health and climate resilience in the region.
