John Baimba Sesay, Senior Comms Manager, Office of Mayor of Freetown
The Freetown City Council (FCC) with support from the World Bank, has trained over 700 community engagement workers to support the implementation of the city’s new Sanitation Bye-Laws. The two-day training, part of FCC’s “Dorti Mus Go” campaign, is aimed at strengthening community outreach, raising public awareness, and ensuring compliance with the regulations.
The training covered key areas such as grievance redress mechanisms, gender-based violence, community engagement in waste management, and an in-depth review of the new waste management system under the recently enacted Bye-Laws. Following this, the workers will be deployed across city zones, working alongside FCC Metropolitan Officers to inform residents about the requirement to register for waste collection. Non-compliance will attract a fine of SLE 5,000 or possible jail time.
Closing the training on 12 September, Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE reflected on past progress in the sanitation sector; including the introduction of 120 tricycles for waste collection, the daily sweeping of over 100 main streets in the city, the construction of transfer stations and the establishment of a complaints hotline 8244. She acknowledged persistent challenges such as a deteriorating road infrastructure, the lack of an effective building permit regime and land-use planning functions and the unavailability of land for a new sanitary landfill, challenges which are outside of the control of FCC.
While stressing that the new bye-laws alone cannot resolve these systemic issues, the Mayor underlined their importance in providing legal backing to waste service providers and strengthening community engagement and urged both residents and service providers to play their part responsibly, warning that resistance will be met with enforcement measures under the law.
Calling for collective action, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr encouraged stakeholders to take ownership of the city’s sanitation reform: “Let’s continue our collective journey of transforming Freetown”, she urged. She expressed optimism that the new system was gaining traction, noting that 15,000 residents have already registered through service providers.
