Waste management in Buea, Residents take matters into their own hands.

As the town’s population grows, so does its mountain of trash. Are we sitting on a health time bomb? Who is responsible for the mess, and how can we help?

“The sight and smell of these overflowing bins are unbearable and cause nausea and headaches. We fear the spread of infectious diseases like cholera and fever due to the poor nature of our streets. As a community like Buea, with the visitors we receive in and out daily, we deserve better,” laments Florence Awara, a businesswoman in Buea.

Waste management in Buea has become a pressing issue as the city grapples with increasing population and urbanization. The Buea municipality in collaboration with other stakeholders is making strides to address the growing waste crisis but significant challenges remain.

This chief town of the Southwest Region, a hub for education and business is facing mounting waste disposal problems. With a population of hundreds of thousands, the city produces a substantial amount of waste daily. However, inadequate collection services and limited recycling facilities have led to overflowing bins and littered streets.

In response to this problem, the Buea Council has entered into partnerships with different non-governmental organizations to set up recycling programs and community clean-up events.

They are also increasing efforts to collect waste so that bins do not overflow frequently, but there are still neighborhoods in the city without bins. These neighborhoods dump their garbage at the roadside while waiting for the sanitation truck to pass by for collection.

“We are trying our best to make sure the streets of Buea are clean; we talk to our partner, hysacam even though they too are having their challenges. We have also partnered with different non-governmental organizations such as Master Planners, who are involved in transforming plastics into pavement bricks. This in one way or the other is helping.” Mosoko Edward Matuwe, deputy mayor of Buea noted.

When things get tough, the community sometimes gets involved in the clean-up process by clearing overgrown grass at the sides of the main boulevard. Tah Richard is a commercial taxi driver.

“As a driver’s syndicate, we do not only try to keep the taxi sector in Buea in order, but we also try in our little way to join the council in keeping the streets clean especially the sides of the roads which we use daily. I think this is our little way of helping our community and our town, Buea,” Tah said.

In other communities like Lower Wonya Emongo, the quarter councilors once, a month call for community work which involves cleaning up the gutters, picking up plastic bottles that have blocked waterways, and grass clearing around the community.

“When it rains heavily, we face a lot of problems here with the volume of water coming down from Buea town, we notice that the gutters here are small, and sometimes the water overflows through the gutters and hence enters the tarred road and into homes. We organize this cleanup at least once a month and encourage others to join the work”. Nang Julius, a quarter council noted.

As the people of Buea take ownership of their environment, they prove that even the smallest action can add up to make a big difference, with one clean street at a time.

  By Emmanuela Siy

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