Buea Residents Deliberately Scatter Refuse
When the garbage picker, HYSCAM, came to Buea in 2010, the mountainside town was seething with fermenting masses of domestic waste; an eyesore in the middle of the regional capital. A few weeks of HYSCAM scavenging brought a shine to the town. Astonishingly today, the inhabitants of Buea are exhibiting a rather queer habit of dumping their waste in unlikely places.
By Fonjia Regina Leke
“Sometimes I get the feeling that since HYSACAM came, Buea residents have become more irresponsible in the manner they handle garbage. Before, they would carefully pack their waste in their backyards and throw them far. But today, they throw dirt anyhow and when you try to caution them, they say if they don’t do that, HYSACAM will not have a job,” said the Environmental Officer for HYSACAM Buea, Enjema Judith.
The environmental officer said this is unfair to those who collect the dirt.
“We have announced to the Buea community the different days HYSACAM visits each quarter and we told them on such days, they should only bring out their trash when they hear the sound of the trucks. Yet, they dump garbage on the streets. We have equally announced that HYSACAM does not work on Sundays, but when you go along the streets on Sundays, you see dirt littered everywhere and this makes the town dirty,” Enjema told The Green Vision.
She said HYSACAM has a plan which shows the various days it gets to different quarters.
“We have announced this to residents but they still abandon dirt on the road even when HYSACAM does not visit that particular quarter,” the HYSACAM official complained.
In the wake of this strange behaviour from Buea residents, Enjema said they are urging the population to be more responsible and dispose of their waste in proper places.
“We have six trucks in Buea. We equally have trash cans along the streets and around the markets. But in inaccessible areas, we have metallic trash cans as well as plastic trash cans for passers-by to deposit their dirt any time,” Enjema said.
As for the landfill at Mussaka along the Buea-Kumba road where HYSACAM dumps the waste it collects in Buea, and could pose an environmental hazard, the official in charge of the site said: “We try to manage the landfill. The area where we dump waste is a valley and we are trying to do land reclamation. Every day after work we bulldoze the waste into the valley and cover it with soil about eight centimeters thick. This traps the biogas that comes out from the biodegradable waste. When the biogas is being trapped, the odour that emantes from that area is reduced and thus cuts air pollution as well the methane that is contained in the biogas that can go up to the ozone layer, destroy it and increase global warming.”
He said the cover soil also helps to trap the flies that are always in landfills and prevents the proliferation of mosquitoes in that area.
“When we cover we have pipes channeling the greenish water that comes out from the waste into a drainage basin where the water is treated before final disposal. In addition, we disinfect the site every three months and all the habitation areas 50 km away from the site in order to kill mosquitoes, snakes and any other things that can come with garbage,” Eddy Evakise Matike, General Controller, Weighbridge, told The Green Vision.
HYSACAM though privately owned, is financed by the state through the Special Fund for Council Support (FEICOM).
The state takes care of 95% and the council pays 5% of the bills.
HYSACAM is supposed to collect at least 80 tonnes of dirt a day.
The company signed a five-year contract with the Buea Council.
“Within this time if the population cooperates with us, we are going to do better. The contract we signed with the council is renewable. Hopefully, when it comes to an end, it will be renewed,” Enjema said.
Meanwhile, HYSACAM field workers get to work early as 5.30 am. After a roll call, they board their trucks to go out and collect rubbish. Tedious and “menial” as the job might be, the workers seem happy with what they do.
“The working condition here at HYSACAM is not bad. I am happy with what I do,” 33-year-old Daniel Nekoli told The Green Vision.
He added, “We are given nose masks, gloves and boots to wear while collecting dirt to avoid any infection from garbage. Additionally, HYSACAM takes care of our bills when we are sick. With all these advantages and a salary of over 60.000 frs cfa, I could not ask for more.”
Nekoli equally said that HYSACAM offers end-of-year awards to encourage good behavior and productivity.
“Last year, I won the second best worker award of 300.000 frs cfa,” Nekoli said.
He enjoins Buea residents to facilitate the process of garbage collection by always putting their garbage in bags.
