Refuge Disposal: Waste Accumulates Again

Keeping Douala clean necessitates the contribution of environmental service providers, creates jobs and promotes the private sector.

Douala is a city with serious environmental challenges in the country. Its low-lying landscape, the abundance of surface water, a not-so-good drainage system and its history of residents throwing dirt anywhere they deem fit without recourse of the negative impact reflect the daily lives of residents. In spite of various efforts by city authorities, environment service providers and the private sector waste continues to accumulate in the economic capital exponentially. It is now a couple of weeks that some neighbourhoods of Douala are not only dirty but stink as well, a major cause of which has been attributed to attitudes. On a daily basis residents are seen in broad daylight throwing sachets of water, containers of mineral water, plastic bags and organic kitchen waste just anywhere along street corners, beside homes and into gutters. When asked, a Ngangue woman said “The garbage can we have around us is full and it has been so over two weeks ago when the hygiene and sanitation company last emptied it; even the other two garbage cans found a little further from us are full and overflowing to pollute the surroundi...