The habit of littering is one that is being addressed by the Freetown City Council as the municipal government of Freetown and Masada Waste Management; a company that addresses garbage disposal. In previous years, the momentum of the Freetown city council to curtail littering in the city was very high. There were bye-laws regarding littering and pedestrians and other road users were fined for disposing waste in the streets. However, it is evident that these laws no longer exist and the FCC has given up in its quest to combat the menace. This indecent act is gradually being inculcated by school going pupils and younger generations.
In an undiluted discussion with the Public Relations Office, Cyril Mattia, he recounted that Sierra Leone has bye-laws that were enshrined in 2010 and some of them addressed littering specifically. But it is habitual of some Sierra Leoneans to be reluctant to comply with the common laws of the land. He pointed out that the enthusiasm of city council to curb littering never collapsed. He disclosed fining defaulters has not been a strong deterrent thus, the crime keeps going. In strategizing, Cyril Mattia discloses the council has approached the judiciary for the establishment of a Municipal Court that will give them the power to prosecute defaulters of the bye-laws.
Masada Waste Management in collaboration with FCC has strategically placed trash bins to prevent littering in the city. But the habit continues to be like an insurmountable challenge to both institutions owing to the fact that people ignore the bins and litter the streets. Sierra Leoneans wait to see whether or not the municipal court will be established to win the fight against littering.
