Poor Waste Disposal: A Major Threat to the Health of Bafoussam Inhabitants

The population of Bafoussam has denounced the poor management of household wastes that are disposed along the major streets of the town. They say that this activity which has become a habit possess a big threat to their health systems, as it causes diseases like cholera, typhoid, polio, meningitis, skin infection, Candida, bacteremia, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

The streets of Bafoussam are getting dirty by the day with huge garbage heaps littered along major roads. Some inhabitants of this city have complained about a drop in the number of HYSACAM workers on duty. HYSACAM workers, they say can spend over a month without passing in some neighborhoods, leading to the accumulation of garbage.

With the absence of HYSACAM workers on duty, the poor hygienic state of Bafoussam has come under questioning. It has gone to the sad extent where some inhabitants working around areas where such heaps are found have been forced to abandoned their work because of the health crisis it brings to them.

“It is really bad. We are unable to work because of pungent scents. The garbage reaches the middle of the road at times. They can go for one to two months without changing the wastebin” lamented Denis Kamgue. Just like him, another women complained of closing down her business because the wastebin was extended to her business place. A woman selling in a restaurant opposite a waste receptacle has also complained that her customers have drastically declined as a result of the presence of garbage heaps, and the indigestible odours it produce.

Other inhabitants have blamed the unethical behaviour of the population, which has not helped HYSACAM officials in fulfilling their duties in keeping Bafoussam clean. “I think that if they can go to this extent of dumping dirt at the entrance of the hospital, their homes should be worse. It shows how unhygienic they are, even at the level of their bodies. They are equally persons who are not well educated. Even when they arrive and find the trashcans empty, they prefer to dump the garbage on the ground,” said Dorothy Deumo, a nurse in this town.

Apart from Bafoussam, other cities such as Bamenda, Yaoundé and Douala are undergoing the same situation. Traders of the Bamenda Central market for instance are dissatisfied with a septic tank that is overflowing and has become a menace to their health and business.

This septic tank, which they say has been flowing for over one month now has caused some of them to close their shops because of the danger it poses to their health. In order to get rid of these nauseating odours and oxygenate the market, many traders have adopted measures such as decontaminate their environments with disinfectants, while waiting that their cry be heard.

Following this poor sanitary conditions, the populations of these cities call on government intervention for the betterment of the situation, not only for their health benefits, but also as a means to prepare the towns ahead of the 2022 AFCON. The have pledged for the multiplication of trashcans and trucks in charge of transporting dirt.

Ingrid KENGNE