By Samuel Flomo, Jr.
The mayors of Gbarnga, Suakoko, and Palala cities have spoken of the deepening sanitation crisis that now engulfed Bong County.
The trio described the situation as a clear sign of “national neglect.”
In separate interviews, the mayors said, garbage has taken over their streets, markets, and communities due to the complete lack of support from government.
In Suakoko, Mayor Francis Gbelawoe, has attributed the current condition of the city to the absence of any financial or logistical assistance.
Gbelawoe explained that since taking office, his administration has been forced to rely on minimal local contributions to sustain basic sanitation crisis.
The city, he said, lacks equipment, fuel, and manpower, making it nearly impossible to collect and properly dispose of waste.
The accumulation of garbage in marketplaces, and along major streets, combined with the burning of trash in the open, has created serious environmental, and health concerns for residents.
In the commercial hub of Palala, Mayor Papa Kermue, has reported similar situation facing the city without any means to control the garbage, which has become overly polluted.
With no garbage trucks, no tricycles, and no dumping site, the city sanitation team has resorted to manual labor, using wheelbarrows and shovels to collect the offensive trash.
He said Palala’s size and population make it extremely difficult to maintain cleanliness without the necessary logistics.
The lack of support, he noted, has forced the City Corporation to operate in survival mode, depending solely on limited community efforts.
In Gbarnga, the county capital, Mayor Gallah Varpilah, has highlighted the shortfalls in funding.
Varpilah explained that his office has received less than US20,000 in two years; an amount insufficient to sustain sanitations in a city of Gbarnga-size.
With such limited resources, he claimed his office struggles to pay sanitation workers, maintain equipment and cover transportation costs.
The result, he said, is a city overtaken by garbage, blocked drainages, and the associated growing public frustrations.
The three mayors collectively agreed that the garbage crisis in the county is a direct result of neglect from higher authorities.
They spoke of going without adequate financial support, logistics, and proper waste management systems.
They also without any financial support from the government, cities across the county will continue to drown in filths.
The situation, they warned, not only threatens the environment, but also puts thousands of residents at risk of potential disease outbreaks.
As Bong County sinks deeper into a sanitation emergency, the mayors believe the message from government is clear; the people are left to fend for themselves in the squalors.
Residents told this newspaper that the growing stench of wastes now symbolizes a broader failure of governance, and unless urgent action is taken, the crisis could soon evolve into a full-scale public health disaster.