Waste Strangling: the urgency of a garbage fix

CRTV

Cameroon's Capital City,Yaounde, continues to grapple with the environmental battle of poor waste disposal. What are councils proposing to tackle the problem? That's the main focus on News Inside Out

Transcript

00:00:00The observation is unsalvageable.

00:00:16Household solid waste is a challenge for many cities in Africa.

00:00:20In fact, the continent holds the sad record.

00:00:25Since 2015, 16 of the 25 dirtiest cities in the world are in Africa and Yaoundé isn't

00:00:33far from incorporating this arduous heat parade of dirty and stinking cities where the waste

00:00:42collection trend to continue in this direction it is heading, that is, down.

00:00:50The absence of a structured and traceable waste collection and treatment policy, the

00:00:57lack of resources aggravated by the incivility of the populations who make no effort to keep

00:01:05their daily living spaces clean, as well as the difficulties of the concessionary companies

00:01:13in discharging their duties, is rendering a putrefying condition even more nauseating.

00:01:22Garbage, garbage everywhere.

00:01:26Images of overflowing trash cans, homeless garbage scarls, ant-polluted gutters and waterways

00:01:35is the picture Yaoundé, Douala and some major cities in Cameroon are currently cutting.

00:01:44The piling up of rubbish, recurring smoke in the air, foul odours invading and perfuming

00:01:52the atmosphere, the proliferation of respiratory diseases and the garbage spillage in the big

00:02:00cities of this country have become simply perversive, with government and city as well

00:02:08as municipal authorities watching on in treacherous impotence and tacit indifference.

00:02:17Waste management, or the lack of it, has from nowhere suddenly become a nationwide cause

00:02:24for concern.

00:02:26It is easy to choke up this ugly picture to the negative extremities of underdevelopment,

00:02:33but history is telling us that Cameroon had a proper trash collection system or assemblers

00:02:41of it that is now seeming to have been overtaken by circumstances and is sagging into an abysmal

00:02:50dysfunctionality, with no one making a conscious effort yet to step forward and pick up the

00:02:59slack.

00:03:00Hello everyone and welcome to News Inside Out as we unravel the politics of trash in

00:03:07Cameroon and how the sinking national waste collection ship can be rescued from total

00:03:15wreckage.

00:03:16I am Ben Menopufong Enyaunde, don't go away.

00:03:36Our guest on News Inside Out tonight is Mr. Hyacinth Mba, Director of Norman Standard

00:03:44in Cameroon's Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development.

00:03:51From him and through him we shall be attempting to know how we got here as well as some of

00:03:59the trappings of waste collection and waste management in Cameroon today as seen from

00:04:06the perspective of the ministry like his that takes care of Cameroon's environmental

00:04:13health.

00:04:14Mr. Mba, we appreciate your presence on the program tonight.

00:04:19Thank you very much Mr. Ben for inviting me for this very interesting program.

00:04:22I think it's very important.

00:04:24As you said, I'm coming for the second time and this time you remember the head of state

00:04:30is now more concerned.

00:04:31You remember the last speech of the head of state addressing the nation on the 31st

00:04:40of December actually highlighting the issue of waste and so calling now.

00:04:45This problem is not only with the ministry of environment but now we're talking now,

00:04:49it's speaking at the level of the presidency to give you the importance that we need to

00:04:54now to bring now to the issue of waste collection in Cameroon.

00:04:58Yes, that the head of state came back on to it and that you and I were here talking about

00:05:02it over a year ago even before it caught the attention of the president of the republic

00:05:07and that we are talking about it again today.

00:05:11Just how preoccupying is the issue in a ministry like yours that is taking care of not only

00:05:17waste on all its forms but all of Cameroon's nature and environment.

00:05:22Yes, you're very right.

00:05:23You're very, very right in saying that we have a key role to play in this waste management

00:05:30stream.

00:05:31And I think the ministry is also not sleeping because we're taking a lot of actions geared

00:05:36towards that direction.

00:05:37First, I think you agree with me that last time I actually highlighted the issue of the

00:05:43ministry putting in place a system to ensure that waste can be managed.

00:05:48But maybe, before going there, maybe start getting the problem why we're getting to this

00:05:53point.

00:05:54Of course, and I'll get you to that, but let us go out there and see exactly what is playing

00:05:59out on the ground so that you can be able to discern and explain what you have obviously

00:06:04in this program tonight.

00:06:05Thank you.

00:06:19The statistics are unassailable.

00:06:23Yaoundé generates about 2,000 metric tons of waste a day.

00:06:29And what we are seeing out there now gives the impression that this may even turn out

00:06:36to be just a conservative estimate.

00:06:39Garbage has invaded all neighborhoods of the town.

00:06:44Though at varying degrees, with some of the heavily populated neighborhoods purely and

00:06:51simply overwhelmed.

00:06:53Monstrous heaps of waste are sprouting and accumulating.

00:06:58Whole streets have been swallowed.

00:07:01Roads deviated where they have not simply been blocked.

00:07:06City dwellers virtually move with their heads turned up to the skies to avoid the stench

00:07:13oozing from the decomposing and stinking rubbish piles.

00:07:18Alphonse Abongo-Ajo has been observing the wastes as they mount up here and there and

00:07:26everywhere in town and reports that even in the heart of the mess, many Yaoundé city

00:07:33dwellers have no remorse at all leaving their rubbish anywhere on the streets, especially

00:07:40now that most of the rubbish cans are all buried under the towering piles of refuse.

00:07:48Could this be Yaoundé?

00:07:51Such a bizarre question often lingers in the minds of first-timers who step foot in Cameroon's

00:07:58capital city.

00:08:00But for those who live and at least stroll around town, the question is rhetorical.

00:08:06Yaoundé is gasping for fresh breath.

00:08:08It now appears rubbish heaps easily identify Yaoundé than any other signal post.

00:08:15The city counts more than 3 million inhabitants who on a daily basis generate about 2,000

00:08:21tons of domestic waste.

00:08:23The available management mechanism seems not to be working.

00:08:27It brings mosquitoes, it bites people in the night.

00:08:31When predators are passing mosquitoes by, it gives them malaria, typhoid, all sorts of things.

00:08:36Most of the times when they throw like that, it's not going to even come to carry.

00:08:40And we are really suffering here.

00:08:41Even at times when they come to carry, they will dirty the whole road with their disposal.

00:08:46So we are really pleading on the council if they can do something else.

00:08:49In this student residential neighbourhood, we are told it is luxury when the hygiene

00:08:54and sanitation company comes around.

00:08:57We are begging that the council can carry at least twice a week.

00:09:00How many times do they carry?

00:09:02At times they come twice a month.

00:09:04The waste pot around the roadside, sometimes the road will become too narrow.

00:09:09Whereas people, when cars are moving up and down, some have to stop, one pass.

00:09:16So it causes the delay of movement of people around.

00:09:20There is even a whole business revolving around these heaps of waste.

00:09:24It is a major source of raw material for those who give a second life to rubbish.

00:09:30I pick papers, books, all books that are thrown with irons.

00:09:34So the kilo of papers is 50 and for iron is 100.

00:09:39So it's what I used to do here every day when they throw the things.

00:09:43I'm having my bath, so I used to go there.

00:09:45Anywhere I see plastic or papers, I pick and join.

00:09:48I'll come here and join with one foot back and go and sell it behind.

00:09:52This young Cameroonian has made it his stocking trade.

00:09:56I used to put paper inside one bag, iron inside one bag and plastic.

00:10:00So paper is 50, plastic is 50, iron is 100.

00:10:04They use papers to make toilet roll.

00:10:07And sometimes there are some people that used to buy carton to make these trays of eggs.

00:10:13There are some people that buy carton.

00:10:15They take some of the plastic, they melt it to arrange other things with it.

00:10:19In other areas like this one in the Younde 3 council area,

00:10:23this group of young men have taken the bull by the horn.

00:10:26They tell me their job is to get down the nooks and crannies

00:10:30and collect waste at the level of households.

00:10:34First days are set aside specifically as they are clean up days.

00:10:39When the gutters are blocked, from time to time we come and clean them.

00:10:43Those around give some tips to motivate the youth to work with eagerness.

00:10:53Our job is to manage the canalization and to clean the environment.

00:10:58The Younde 3 council has weighed in with this tricycle

00:11:02to give their initiative a more professional touch.

00:11:08The council tricycle is there to help us transport the trash.

00:11:12Given that the tricycle is in our possession in the neighborhood,

00:11:16we need to foil it and at the end of the day,

00:11:19we have to deposit some amount of money and motivate the rider.

00:11:23Some money generated from it is kept aside to maintain the tricycle so that it is sustainable.

00:11:32In the face of this conundrum,

00:11:34citizens are clamoring for more innovative and efficient solutions from public authorities.

00:11:40Government should look for a different place because it causes many problems here.

00:11:46People suffer a lot here so they need to look for a place where there is no road,

00:11:53where places are calm, they should deposit here.

00:11:58This is just one category of waste.

00:12:00Let's now switch to the waterways and talk about another.

00:12:04Plastic waste is one of the biggest waste that is generated here in the city of Younde.

00:12:09And you can see that one of the key areas that this plastic waste pass through to be disposed is the riverbeds.

00:12:17And if you look around this river, it's relatively clean.

00:12:21And when you look by the site here,

00:12:23you discover that there is a group of young people around this neighborhood who have come

00:12:27and they have picked up this plastic waste.

00:12:31There are tons and tons of them that are being generated every day across the city.

00:12:35And they are just disposed of.

00:12:37Anyhow, when it's raining,

00:12:39this plastic waste gets into the water bodies and then gets through the rivers and blocks the river passage.

00:12:45That is also one of the key causes of floods in the town of Younde.

00:12:50And so there is a group of young people here which we've been very unlucky to meet today.

00:12:57And they have taken upon themselves to gather this plastic waste and tie them up like this

00:13:02in order not to allow them to pollute the environment.

00:13:05So that is one of the key issues that they are bringing in a solution to this big problem

00:13:11that is affecting the capital city of Kampala.

00:13:13The waste management equation in Younde is truly complex and the existing formula far from solving it.

00:13:21The responsibility is collective, but experts opine sustainable solutions are not far-fetched.

00:13:28All it takes is political will.

00:13:32Bamenda, in Cameroon's northwest region, used to be one of the country's cleanest cities.

00:13:40But with the Anglophone insurgency also targeting rubbish cans and collection,

00:13:47the city now has a garbage problem.

00:13:50The town never used to look as bad as it is nowadays.

00:13:55Residents are virtually sinking in trash, a situation that got heightened

00:14:02when separatists declared war on the city's garbage collection company.

00:14:08This, however, does not inhibit them from fathoming the good old days

00:14:15and thinking that something ought to be done, and urgently too,

00:14:20irrespective of the current trials and tribulations.

00:14:25Mersi Kosi has been contemplating the waste lock-jam up in Bamenda

00:14:32and came away on the note that despite all the efforts by the city councils

00:14:38and the subdivisional municipalities,

00:14:41the efforts are still far from bailing the town out of its current garbage hold-up.

00:14:48Apart from the effect this has on the aesthetic value of the area,

00:14:54it soon heaps up and starts producing a foul smell.

00:14:58In addition, these waste management methods have biodegradable materials

00:15:05start decaying and decomposing under abnormal, unhealthy and uncontrolled conditions.

00:15:11On the streets of Bamenda, residents sound quite enlightened

00:15:15about the importance of sorting waste.

00:15:19I feel so bad and uncomfortable being at my workshop

00:15:24and opposite is where they deposit it.

00:15:27So for me, for us to try to reduce the way we deposit it,

00:15:33things like papers, plastics at least should try and burn those ones off

00:15:39so that at least the deaths will not be as much as this.

00:15:44But in reality, this is what you get.

00:15:47Overflowing dumpsites with a chaotic jumble of kitchen waste, plastic and other hazardous waste.

00:15:55This is the final destination of most of what is produced as waste

00:16:00within the city of Bamenda and its environs.

00:16:03Here one can find waste of every kind produced by households and institutions.

00:16:09The site soon become breeding ground for mosquitoes and a banquet table for stray animals.

00:16:17Since last week, see today, they have not come to clean up again.

00:16:23But at least, what I'm happy with is that every week they do pass.

00:16:28So I'm sure this week they will also pass and clean the place up.

00:16:31The notion of a cyclic economy, which is a model of production and consumption involving sharing,

00:16:39leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products

00:16:47as long as possible to reduce waste to a minimum has become popular here.

00:16:53The waste management organizations collect the waste and have them dumped here

00:16:59without any proper procedure to treat or have them sorted out before being disposed of.

00:17:05We have the units that actually go to the field with the trucks and tricycles

00:17:11to collect the waste, dump it where they are dumped,

00:17:15taken to the waste disposal site up by the Bambli Hills there.

00:17:23Then the other part of them remains in the recycling unit

00:17:30where the waste that is collected from the various spots gets to the dump site,

00:17:37is sorted out there on the dump site.

00:17:40We get out leather and it goes to its own position.

00:17:46Metal goes to its own position.

00:17:48Cans go to their own position.

00:17:50Bottles have their own place.

00:17:52The waste itself, the plastic, has its own way to go.

00:17:57Then household waste has its own way to go.

00:18:01The Tuba Council has often been branded as a modern municipality in waste management

00:18:07with a strategy to recycle plastic bottles produced in huge quantities

00:18:13by the largely student population of the area.

00:18:16However, the response from the public has not been satisfactory

00:18:21according to the municipal authority who still fault them

00:18:25for the indiscriminate dumping of waste despite the allocation of trash cans and dump sites.

00:18:32I sent out 60 20 litre cans, both painted green and red.

00:18:41Shared to all the fundums.

00:18:45It's labelled on the green one household waste.

00:18:48On the other container it's labelled solid waste.

00:18:53The public shouldn't come out and take a lot of time.

00:18:55We've been taking time to sanitise them.

00:18:57But it is not the case.

00:18:59Look at this plastic bottle basket.

00:19:01Go there and you see plastic pool on the ground.

00:19:04Why not just drop it inside the container?

00:19:07You go where two containers are standing, they'll come and throw the waste on the ground.

00:19:10It's a long process and we don't need to get reluctant.

00:19:14We have to keep on sanitising, moving gradually until we get it.

00:19:20Old habits, the sea, die hard.

00:19:23And the method of managing waste in the city of Bamenda and its environs is a glaring example.

00:19:30Civil society organisations in the town, raising awareness on the practice,

00:19:35identify a huge gap between sensitising the people on the advantages of properly handling waste

00:19:43generated across different levels and the understanding people have of the topic.

00:19:49Apart from the effect this has on the aesthetic value of the area,

00:19:54it soon heaps up and starts producing a foul smell.

00:19:58In addition, these waste management methods have biodegradable materials

00:20:04start decaying and decomposing under abnormal, unhealthy and uncontrolled conditions.

00:20:11We quickly identify the challenges.

00:20:13At individual levels, household levels, you could see a myriad of challenges.

00:20:18One of the first key challenges is that there is no awareness about the fact that

00:20:25each person generates waste, but in the end we have large wastes that come from small, small sources.

00:20:33So when each person generates waste, the idea is almost like

00:20:38they don't really see the big picture of the waste problem,

00:20:41they only see the small waste they have generated.

00:20:44They are not seeing that that small waste is going to lead to a very large waste problem.

00:20:50There are no large industries here as such industrial waste is hard to come by.

00:20:56Some people capitalise on this.

00:20:58However, it does not exempt the town from suffering from the effects of a polluted atmosphere

00:21:06caused by poor waste management.

00:21:09The city council, which is the main institution in charge of hygiene and sanitation,

00:21:15acknowledge the void that exists in the waste management chain.

00:21:20The solid waste, in terms of metals, they gather and they resell them

00:21:25and it is being sent to other factories where they could be recycled.

00:21:29The other waste which is produced from our homes,

00:21:33which we do not have a means to recycle, is the plastics and the bottles.

00:21:42We have attended seminars with people who were looking to see if they can buy bottles for the moment.

00:21:54What we are about to establish is, if we ask the people of Bamenda to come and sell their bottles,

00:22:00will the people who recycle bottles collect them so that we don't end up with a pile of bottles

00:22:06with the fake promise that you bring our bottles, they'll give you something

00:22:10and then when they gather the bottles, the company to carry are not there.

00:22:16We are making efforts to that effect.

00:22:18There have been promises made of partnerships to be signed between the Bamenda City Council

00:22:24and some renowned companies in industrial towns in Cameroon,

00:22:28whose job descriptions involve the reduction of plastic and other non-biodegradable waste.

00:22:35But how soon this is going to be remains a billion-dollar question.

00:22:40Until what's put to action, the beautiful literature and plans for a proper waste management scheme in Bamenda

00:22:48remain just another campaign manifesto.

00:23:18Nothing seems to be happening on the ground.

00:23:20Thank you very much, Ben. I'm happy that I've actually painted a picture of what's happening in Cameroon.

00:23:26But if you look at the four cities that we visited, some issues come out very clear.

00:23:33I think one of the issues that we see very clear is the lack of collection and transportation means for all the council area.

00:23:40It's very clear. We've seen they have means.

00:23:43Collection and transportation?

00:23:44Collection of this waste and transportation of this waste to either a landfill or whatever, that's a problem.

00:23:50Now we have the pile. That's an issue.

00:23:52They have adequate technology to ensure that this waste, if it is collected, can be given a different meaning, or call it valorized.

00:24:00Maybe we'll come to a time when we'll talk about circular economy.

00:24:02But we don't have this problem.

00:24:05The third aspect we see is the accurate problem of finance.

00:24:09Most of the councils, they have a big issue of financing to ensure that the waste is collected.

00:24:16I will not talk about, call it manpower, because if you say to the 20,000 people, they'll come, they'll collect.

00:24:24But do we pay them? How do we pay them?

00:24:27And so my problem starts from that aspect.

00:24:30And then an issue that we see around is kind of this, you see, the trend of waste we see now.

00:24:37We have, the climate has changed.

00:24:39If you talk about some 20 years ago, you're not talking about plastic, you're talking right now.

00:24:44So the attitude has changed.

00:24:46We have now more different means of different types of plastic or attitude that we use.

00:24:52Maybe the waste now is not valid based on our attitude.

00:24:55Because in this case, we have now more plastic in what we consume in our household waste.

00:25:01Now, another aspect that comes out very clear in this issue, you see now, the council is working.

00:25:08The city council is working.

00:25:10Now we have the government institutions that are coming out.

00:25:12Now this legal principle, I mean, to actually direct who to take what,

00:25:17I think that's an issue where the president probably came back on this issue.

00:25:21That what is happening, the way it should be handled.

00:25:24You may have the means, you may have the finances,

00:25:27but the people, this dysfunction may come from the competition or competencies that's transferred to other councils

00:25:34or most of the ministries.

00:25:38So I think that's why we start having this issue now.

00:25:42Now, I still go back on, I think some of the actions give some way of what they are trying to see.

00:25:49But the actual problem still stays.

00:25:52We still have these garbages still there.

00:25:55One issue that I want to insist again is that our attitudes.

00:25:59We create unnecessary or illegal dump sites.

00:26:04You saw what the children, before today have a small waste.

00:26:11Before you know it, before maybe the evening, it becomes a huge dump.

00:26:15And even if the executive can decide to put that site or whatever,

00:26:19whoever these concessionaries may decide to put.

00:26:23By the time it comes, everything is piled.

00:26:25And at the time of piling, they decide not even to put in that trash can.

00:26:29It's done.

00:26:30So you see, when you analyze all of these challenges,

00:26:33that's where you start asking, where can we go to?

00:26:37Tell me, what is the responsibility of your ministry, the Ministry of Environment,

00:26:42in the whole picture of garbage collection first?

00:26:46Right, I will start with the Framework Law.

00:26:49The Framework Law of 1996.

00:26:52Actually, it's one of the documents that is really helping most of maybe the cancers as well.

00:26:57And that document, the Framework Law on Management of Waste,

00:27:00or Management of Environmental Management,

00:27:02says that, actually in Article 46,

00:27:06says that the waste management is attributed to the council.

00:27:11The council needs to ensure the waste, the night dump,

00:27:15and remove this dump.

00:27:18And this article is further compounded by the attribution of competencies to councils

00:27:27by the signing of the 2019 Act to the councils,

00:27:34giving competencies now more powers to handle.

00:27:37Now you see, the whole genre remains at the level of the council.

00:27:40But the Ministry of Environment, let me come back.

00:27:42What is the role of the Ministry of Environment in this issue?

00:27:45If you go in that text, the law now has some ministerial text.

00:27:51Actually, the text now we apply is the text on recycling,

00:27:54that is the 2012 text decree,

00:27:58actually assigning who to get into waste management.

00:28:01It tells you that any waste vessel must be sorted.

00:28:05Now, any person getting into the waste sector needs to have a permit

00:28:09before you, so they can identify you.

00:28:12Thirdly, councils should ensure that they make,

00:28:16they bring out the waste, council waste management plan,

00:28:20or inter-council waste management plan.

00:28:23When you have a waste management plan, people will see exactly what is happening.

00:28:27If the council has a clear waste management plan, they will see what is happening.

00:28:31So this is what the Ministry of Environment is doing.

00:28:33So right now the Ministry of Environment is, in this case now,

00:28:36promote the idea of proposing a guide,

00:28:39so that councils can use this to produce a waste management plan.

00:28:43We are not ending there.

00:28:45One of the issues I was seeing, I think recently you heard,

00:28:48the Ministry of Environment coming out with another policy.

00:28:51In 2016, we had the first National Forum on Waste.

00:28:56And in this Forum on Waste, in 2016,

00:29:00actually came out with two key recommendations.

00:29:04That one, Cameroon should come out with a national waste exchange,

00:29:12national waste exchange.

00:29:15And secondly, they should revise the national waste strategy.

00:29:18Now, you know, it's taken us quite some time.

00:29:21Why? Why is it delaying?

00:29:23Well, first of all, the actors, the willingness was there from when we started,

00:29:272009, 2016 till now, you see the amount of time.

00:29:32Each time we bring, at times, not enough funds to start off.

00:29:37And now we need to convince the Prime Minister and other ministerial government

00:29:42to see the need to come out with this national waste exchange.

00:29:46What is the essence?

00:29:48My waste that I'm producing becomes your primary sources.

00:29:51So we are talking about secularity now in the issue of waste.

00:29:54So that's exactly what they're promoting.

00:29:57And we say now, it's taking long.

00:29:59Now, how is that waste exchange that you're talking about, that's going to be put in place,

00:30:02how is it going to change the picture?

00:30:04Yeah, it becomes, how is it going to change the picture?

00:30:07First of all, we need now people, actionaries, or we call it shareholders,

00:30:10to take this as a responsibility, as a need,

00:30:16that are having a share in this business.

00:30:21Call it as a business.

00:30:22Now, when you put in that share now,

00:30:24Now, they'll pay me now.

00:30:26If I have now my waste now, owner of the waste now,

00:30:29I can sell now the waste to somebody who needs the waste.

00:30:31The problem that we're having here is the problem of information.

00:30:33Information sharing.

00:30:34I like the way you put it. You own your waste.

00:30:36So waste becomes, it has value and property.

00:30:39You create now, you create now value for your waste.

00:30:41And that's the issue we want to bring now with the household.

00:30:44Now working with the councils, the councils see now the waste that they're having

00:30:46at the level of the municipality, to make it as a way they can make money from it.

00:30:50But Cameroonians don't seem to understand that there is cash in that trash.

00:30:54That's what we're talking about. There's wealth in waste.

00:30:56So what we are actually seeing is the idea behind this boost,

00:31:01or call it the National Waste Exchange,

00:31:03that I can get my waste, now make exchange with you.

00:31:06Now, the partners that are ready to come in,

00:31:09they need to have a legal issue now to put them in place,

00:31:12so they have the vision, how am I going to, how am I going to benefit.

00:31:17We've actually carried a study in this mechanism, and we've seen that it's very profitable.

00:31:21The government will not spend any dime.

00:31:23In the first three years, it will be very, very, very feasible.

00:31:27And it will become now profitable,

00:31:29that we can make now a way now to boost the sector of waste.

00:31:32Are you talking about there is a void,

00:31:34the legal void in putting those type of mechanisms in place?

00:31:39Yeah, we are moving towards, because I think we need to prepare,

00:31:42and then now bring out the legal minds to now draft something,

00:31:45so that now we cannot see where we are moving.

00:31:47You know, the issue of secularity is so recent,

00:31:50and so we need now to bring on the law now to respect,

00:31:53move towards the direction that we can see now,

00:31:55that what we have becomes a problem.

00:31:57Because if at all, when, if I tell you that my waste, I'm selling it,

00:32:00I will not just leave it like that.

00:32:02And then in this case, then the house owner will see now the importance of keeping the waste,

00:32:05or how to do with the waste.

00:32:07Until we come to such a point where there will be wage scarcity.

00:32:10Well, no, because it can never be.

00:32:12Let me use the case of Yaounde.

00:32:16In the report that you presented,

00:32:19we are producing about 2,000 tons of waste every day.

00:32:26But the contract that Hisakawa has,

00:32:29shows that they are supposed to eliminate 1,000 tons.

00:32:33You see now 50.

00:32:35It's not, where do we go with 50?

00:32:37So you see the problem of waste remains.

00:32:40That's an issue now.

00:32:41So actually you're saying Hisakawa is working,

00:32:43but they are not doing, their work is not good enough,

00:32:45they cannot meet the challenge of the ground.

00:32:47Because the contract that he signed with the state,

00:32:49because the state pays on what prerata or what he has.

00:32:51But they can't revalorize it and go to meet the reality of the ground.

00:32:55Of course, but it was not within the prescription of the text,

00:32:58or prescription of the contract signed between Hisakawa and Kansai.

00:33:02They are the actors on the ground.

00:33:04Seeing that the situation has gone past where they were,

00:33:06and it is impacting their own job negatively.

00:33:09It is in their interest to move to the people and say,

00:33:12hey we came in for this, but now this is what we have on the ground.

00:33:15Can we please step up?

00:33:16Why is that not taking place?

00:33:18Right, you know anything like contracts, the legal document,

00:33:22I will not go against the contract, certainly.

00:33:24But I will know they want to stay within the contract.

00:33:26Maybe it may have been that project within them.

00:33:28But my point is now these actors that are in the field,

00:33:31and that we see have now waste on them.

00:33:34The question still remains, why do we see,

00:33:36even though we have all this, maybe something,

00:33:39seemingly solutions to the waste, but still having waste.

00:33:42If you come back to the issue, it is a problem of finance.

00:33:47People need to go there and collect,

00:33:51and need to remove the waste that we have.

00:33:53If the council is actually giving enough money to carry out waste,

00:33:57it will be done.

00:33:58Or if the council can come out with a good model,

00:34:02to make sure that the waste generated could be sold.

00:34:06Meaning they are identifying more actors in the field.

00:34:09Now they need to help to identify actors,

00:34:11those who are specialized in particular waste.

00:34:14You just listen to what the city mayor of Bamenda said.

00:34:20Now people who come in maybe for plastic,

00:34:23they come now for cans, come now for bottles,

00:34:26or come maybe for scrap iron.

00:34:30Now people may come to other emerging waste that are coming,

00:34:33like electrical, electronic waste.

00:34:35Now we have these guys now well-structured, well-placed,

00:34:38follow up.

00:34:40Now you see that their waste now become useful.

00:34:42And because the problem we still have again is that,

00:34:45even though you may help the household to collect this waste,

00:34:49maybe segregate or sort the waste,

00:34:51but when it comes out, how is it collected?

00:34:53Everything lumped in one.

00:34:55So it doesn't help people.

00:34:57So if you are saying that the people that are having the contract

00:35:00with either the council or whoever they are making contract,

00:35:02it will help specify that what are you taking.

00:35:05Is it scrap?

00:35:07Is it paper?

00:35:09Or is it plastics?

00:35:12In this case now, when you help the household separate,

00:35:16and then you come, we are separate containers now,

00:35:18you see the issue of dumping becomes a bit different.

00:35:20Now because I have the issue of mix,

00:35:22I want to know there are so many actors in the field

00:35:24that want to even come for biodegradable waste,

00:35:27but they cannot come because everything is lumped.

00:35:30You want to do something, everything is lumped.

00:35:32So how do we come in?

00:35:34So we think that the issue still comes with

00:35:38how we go back on a drawing board in place,

00:35:42and sort out that these various stakeholders,

00:35:45this is what you should do,

00:35:47this is what you should do, and your work ends here.

00:35:50You start here and ends here.

00:35:52When these clear-cut boundaries are made,

00:35:56and ensure that various administrations

00:35:58and various municipalities know what they should do,

00:36:00the issue of waste becomes easy.

00:36:02It becomes easier for the administration as well to follow up.

00:36:06Because I think, I equally believe,

00:36:10that one of the issues with CDPI because they follow up,

00:36:12ah whoop, no one cares.

00:36:14If at all I give you a contract,

00:36:16and then I don't ensure that you follow up the contract,

00:36:18and then maybe give some kind of sanctions,

00:36:20you will remain the same.

00:36:22Why other countries in Africa are fine,

00:36:24and we have the problem here?

00:36:26Is that discipline you are asking?

00:36:28We need to be disciplined, we have a contract,

00:36:30we respect the terms and conditions of the contract,

00:36:32and we go with the terms and conditions.

00:36:34And in that case now, we can now move ahead

00:36:36and do something very well.

00:36:38Because if you issue and there is no follow-up,

00:36:40and there is no sanction behind,

00:36:42everything stays normal, good.

00:36:44And the president might say anything,

00:36:46go on, I'm in the same spot.

00:36:48Since you talked about many actors

00:36:50involved in this waste management chain,

00:36:52do you have a platform

00:36:54where all of you,

00:36:56the major actors, you sit

00:36:58so that you can harmonise strategies

00:37:00and approaches so we can

00:37:02address Cameroon's

00:37:04waste management, waste collection,

00:37:06management and treatment

00:37:08in a very, very professional manner

00:37:10that will free our cities

00:37:12from the current embarrassment?

00:37:14I think that's a big role

00:37:16I think that's a big role

00:37:18that the prime minister should take

00:37:20to federate and show the various actors

00:37:22to come in.

00:37:24Because if you give a platform,

00:37:26if I look at my organic land, my organic land says

00:37:28I need to do this. The one of

00:37:30urban development housing says about the same thing

00:37:32I'm doing. That of maybe water and energy

00:37:34says one and the same thing.

00:37:36So you see now that I have this

00:37:38overlap of functions,

00:37:40and that's a big problem.

00:37:42Now who wants to give up his function

00:37:44because of the other one? That's another problem, issue.

00:37:46Understand? So that's why you

00:37:48see, but in most cities or in most

00:37:50countries in the world, there's

00:37:52an administration that takes care.

00:37:54And that's why the issue, we stay in the issue

00:37:56of household waste.

00:37:58That aspect has been given to the council

00:38:00and now they have to work with Mindéville.

00:38:02Mindéville is the, as they call it,

00:38:04Toutain, to ensure that it works.

00:38:06The other administration, we come in to support.

00:38:08We propose, like,

00:38:10we ask what's the role of Mindéville

00:38:12We have now proposed now, like, the guides

00:38:14and the laws, and then we work with

00:38:16local council. That's only on household.

00:38:18Now local council now work with Mindéville

00:38:20and the structure.

00:38:22Once a, we call it

00:38:24once this, each council has

00:38:26a council waste management plan

00:38:28as it is, it's respected.

00:38:30Now, how is it done?

00:38:32Who validates the waste management plan?

00:38:34And how is the follow-up of it?

00:38:36In this case now, we see that each time

00:38:38there's kind of evaluation of the

00:38:40plan that we have.

00:38:42We tell, okay, in this case, for two years

00:38:44or for one year, this is a problem we're noticing.

00:38:46Or the contract we signed with this company

00:38:48is not working very well because this is not working.

00:38:50So we think now when we gather all of this

00:38:52information together

00:38:54or these actors together

00:38:56and we specify

00:38:58a function, now we

00:39:00can maybe move ahead

00:39:02but all that problem remains.

00:39:04Okay.

00:39:06We're coming back to it in Istanbul

00:39:08and it is news inside out

00:39:10on the Cameroon Radio Television.

00:39:12Our guest in the studio is

00:39:14Mr. Hasimbo.

00:39:16He's the director of norms and standards

00:39:18in Cameroon's

00:39:20Ministry of Environment.

00:39:22Now, we've been talking about council

00:39:24and we should come to you on the Cameroon's

00:39:26political capital

00:39:28with a city council

00:39:30of its own

00:39:32and six sub-divisional councils

00:39:34and it is yet

00:39:36to settle on the proper

00:39:38formula with which to

00:39:40tackle the current garbage

00:39:42puzzle, threatening

00:39:44to convert the capital of

00:39:46Cameroon to a slough

00:39:48of disband.

00:39:50With the rapid

00:39:52rates of urbanization

00:39:54and constant rise in

00:39:56population of the city,

00:39:58the need to rethink and redesign

00:40:00a garbage collection

00:40:02and treatment policy

00:40:04that can not only absorb

00:40:06the huge volumes of

00:40:08waste produced here daily

00:40:10but which ensures

00:40:12something so that

00:40:14in the long run,

00:40:16trash can become cash

00:40:18in this country is

00:40:20very critical.

00:40:22Reason why Mokwele Prince Wiladuma

00:40:24is sticking his head

00:40:26for this and he says

00:40:28in an increase, it will

00:40:30increase efficient

00:40:32and effective waste

00:40:34management ecosystems

00:40:36in the nation's capital

00:40:38making it crucial so that

00:40:40results can be forthcoming.

00:40:42Prince Wiladuma

00:40:44with a round of what

00:40:46the city council of Yaounde

00:40:48and its subsidiary councillors

00:40:50are doing

00:40:52to attack waste.

00:40:54Household

00:40:56waste not in short supply in

00:40:58Yaounde, no.

00:41:00A source of roadside smell,

00:41:02heap of attraction to wanton flies

00:41:04and the most unwanted guest

00:41:06to any clean city

00:41:08endeavour finds a seat

00:41:10in Cameroon's seat of administration.

00:41:12Household waste, a source

00:41:14of household livelihood

00:41:16wasted here.

00:41:18We associate the population.

00:41:20We try sometimes to

00:41:22work with population

00:41:24so that when they clean their quarter

00:41:26we can give them

00:41:28small cars, small pickups

00:41:30in order to collect the waste

00:41:32and bring it to Izakam

00:41:34in Kolfulu

00:41:36where the waste is

00:41:38brought by different

00:41:40trucks of Izakam. But normally

00:41:42it's not our competence.

00:41:44That's why we are limited. The problem is that

00:41:46we are limited. Normally

00:41:48the subsidiary councillors

00:41:50in the big cities of Yaounde

00:41:52we should have the competence

00:41:54to manage our own waste.

00:41:56But actually we cannot

00:41:58because we are not allowed

00:42:00by different laws,

00:42:02by different texts.

00:42:04That's why we think that a text should be revised.

00:42:06The laws should be revised

00:42:08in order to allow

00:42:10to municipalities,

00:42:12to subsidiary councils to manage

00:42:14their own waste. Because if

00:42:16in Yaounde 5 we had

00:42:18this competence,

00:42:20normally actually we should have

00:42:22been creating our own

00:42:24discharge.

00:42:26That one where the waste is

00:42:28collected. And we

00:42:30have normally partners

00:42:32who are proposing to work with us

00:42:34at the international level

00:42:36how we can manage

00:42:38our own waste, how can we transform

00:42:40our own waste.

00:42:42Because in some corners

00:42:44in the world, even in

00:42:46Africa, the waste is

00:42:48a source of revenues. Because

00:42:50it's bringing money to different

00:42:52municipalities. But here in Cameroon

00:42:54it's not possible.

00:42:56Inasmuch as this knowledge

00:42:58is not the preserve of the mayor of Yaounde 5,

00:43:00he and his colleagues

00:43:02of the other 5 subdivisional councils

00:43:04are said to be harmed

00:43:06by restricting laws.

00:43:08The problem is known.

00:43:10The problem is known.

00:43:12So it's not

00:43:14a problem of consultation between

00:43:16the mayor of Yaounde 5 and the city mayor.

00:43:18It's a national

00:43:20problem because

00:43:22when we are calling for

00:43:24the revising of text,

00:43:26of laws, you should understand

00:43:28that it's a national problem.

00:43:30It's a national problem.

00:43:32So national authority

00:43:34should take this problem in

00:43:36hands and solve it.

00:43:38The garbage notwithstanding,

00:43:40Yaounde City Council's parade

00:43:42heaps of debt from the

00:43:44center. Clearing Yaounde

00:43:46of this public eyesore

00:43:48is the overriding goal of all the

00:43:50councils. How disposal

00:43:52or transformation is conducted

00:43:54is still out of reach

00:43:56to the public eye.

00:43:58Meanwhile, a council sharing

00:44:00its municipal space with the

00:44:02presidency of the republic will not

00:44:04tarry on the competent saga.

00:44:06We have the obligation

00:44:08to keep

00:44:10our town clean because

00:44:12all the hosts

00:44:14of the president

00:44:16arrive

00:44:18in Cameroon

00:44:20when

00:44:22they go to the

00:44:24municipality palace.

00:44:26It's important

00:44:28for us to keep clean

00:44:30our town.

00:44:32In our municipality, we have

00:44:34some organization.

00:44:36We call them CODEL.

00:44:38Local Organization for

00:44:40Development. We create

00:44:42this organization

00:44:44with the

00:44:46volunteers, with the population of

00:44:48Yaounde too.

00:44:50Every week,

00:44:52on Wednesday,

00:44:54all these volunteers,

00:44:56all this population help

00:44:58the municipality

00:45:00walking in the

00:45:02road, move the waste

00:45:04and debt.

00:45:06We know that

00:45:08it's not easy for them,

00:45:10but the municipality

00:45:12help them with

00:45:14some materials,

00:45:16with some...

00:45:18any way they can use

00:45:20to move

00:45:22debt.

00:45:24We can say Wednesday, keep Yaounde too clean.

00:45:26Yes, we have a concept, Yaounde too,

00:45:28clean town

00:45:30and every

00:45:32Wednesday, all this population,

00:45:34women, youth

00:45:36and men walk

00:45:38around and through

00:45:40the road.

00:45:42To Mayor Yannick Ayissi, it is a collective

00:45:44exercise spearheaded by his

00:45:46council's financial commitment.

00:45:48About 7 or

00:45:506 percent of the budget,

00:45:52about 50

00:45:54million

00:45:56is allocated to

00:45:58sustain

00:46:00the

00:46:02clean

00:46:04of the city.

00:46:06It's not so far,

00:46:08but we try

00:46:10with this

00:46:12little amount,

00:46:14but the

00:46:16most important is

00:46:18our capacity

00:46:20to walk

00:46:22every day to sensitize

00:46:24the population. It's the most important.

00:46:26You can have all the money of the world

00:46:28if the population

00:46:30are not sensitized.

00:46:32If they are not accompanied,

00:46:34our movement will be very

00:46:36bad for everybody.

00:46:38We need the participation of the population

00:46:40because if in the morning

00:46:42we walk, we move the dead

00:46:44and in the afternoon the population

00:46:46come and put that,

00:46:48it's not good for us.

00:46:50The most important is to sensitize the population.

00:46:52We need the accompaniment

00:46:54of this population

00:46:56to keep our town

00:46:58clean. There is many

00:47:00exploitation,

00:47:02the garage,

00:47:04some women

00:47:06who market,

00:47:08we want them

00:47:10to be sensitized

00:47:12and to work in good

00:47:16environment.

00:47:18Transformational source of revenue

00:47:20or literal debt.

00:47:22What leads us, Yaounde Street

00:47:24is equally a government

00:47:26concern. We receive

00:47:28some support. We have the transfer

00:47:30credit of the government

00:47:32and we have the

00:47:34drug assist

00:47:36and there is some support,

00:47:38material support from Ministry

00:47:40of Urban Development.

00:47:42They have some support from this ministry

00:47:44to work and to

00:47:46keep our clean,

00:47:48our city clean.

00:47:50Otherwise, Yaounde's waste

00:47:52will continue to worry and wallow

00:47:54in the deadlock

00:47:56of who does what.

00:47:58Environmentalist

00:48:00and aquatic life experts

00:48:02are categorical on this.

00:48:04Waste has a huge impact

00:48:06on the environment, on water

00:48:08and particularly on

00:48:10aquatic systems.

00:48:12They even caution that disposing

00:48:14of fresh water sources

00:48:16in the wrong way

00:48:18greatly affects the health

00:48:20of marine dwellers.

00:48:22Just as bad

00:48:24as the practice of dumping

00:48:26materials into aquatic

00:48:28ecosystems which not only

00:48:30lead to pollution but

00:48:32which directly and indirectly

00:48:34poses a danger

00:48:36to all life forms.

00:48:38Come to think of it,

00:48:40an awful lot

00:48:42of the trash that Yaounde

00:48:44gushes out per day

00:48:46either directly or indirectly

00:48:48find themselves

00:48:50in rivers and streams

00:48:52as statistics now show

00:48:54that close to 13 million

00:48:56metric tons of plastic

00:48:58end in the ocean every year

00:49:00which is the equivalent

00:49:02of truckloads of

00:49:04rubbish that would have been

00:49:06poorly disposed of

00:49:08every minute.

00:49:10Beatrice Losamba navigated

00:49:12from upstream to downstream

00:49:14to see what damage

00:49:16poor waste management

00:49:18is causing aquatic and

00:49:20marine life

00:49:22and wove this package

00:49:24for News Inside Out.

00:49:28The ugly picture

00:49:30of water pollution.

00:49:32The monster called pollution

00:49:34destroying the beauty and

00:49:36enjoyment of our waterways

00:49:38and this goes a long way.

00:49:40The economic, health and environmental

00:49:42impacts are enormous.

00:49:46Trash blown off garbage

00:49:48containers, trucks and landfills,

00:49:50litter, debris from

00:49:52commercial and industrial facilities

00:49:54end up as marine debris.

00:49:56Urban runoff is said

00:49:58to represent the largest source

00:50:00of marine debris.

00:50:02Prominent among this waste is

00:50:04plastic bags.

00:50:06As strong as the waves tried

00:50:08they failed to push them out.

00:50:10The thing with plastics is that

00:50:12they do not disintegrate

00:50:14or decompose easily.

00:50:16They can stay in nature

00:50:18for thousands of years

00:50:20and plastics also

00:50:22tend to be very light

00:50:24which means that they can be easily

00:50:26moved by water and by

00:50:28sea and by wind.

00:50:30It depends on what direction

00:50:32the waves are moving. There are some

00:50:34coastal areas that are depositional

00:50:36that the waste comes on shore

00:50:38but there are some

00:50:40coastal areas that by their very nature

00:50:42are erosional which means that

00:50:44the wave is moving

00:50:46offshore.

00:50:48If the waste

00:50:50is coming on shore

00:50:52the advantage is that

00:50:54it can be easily removed

00:50:56from the ocean

00:50:58and we've seen efforts around the world

00:51:00to try to remove some of this waste

00:51:02from the ocean. But if

00:51:04the waves are such that are taking

00:51:06them offshore, it could

00:51:08get to places that we will be unable

00:51:10to reach to remove. And sometimes

00:51:12when these plastics are filled

00:51:14with water, they also sink

00:51:16to the bottom of the ocean and they become

00:51:18harder and harder to take out of the ocean.

00:51:20So the best thing would be

00:51:22not to have them in the ocean

00:51:24in the first place. The quantity

00:51:26of waste is said to be increasing

00:51:28in oceans worldwide.

00:51:30Researchers documented

00:51:32an overwhelming increase in

00:51:34plastic waste with pieces

00:51:36of them seen outnumbering

00:51:38plankton on the surface of the ocean

00:51:40and entangling coral reefs.

00:51:42There are more than 12 million

00:51:44tons of plastic that

00:51:46finds their way into the ocean

00:51:48every single year.

00:51:50And that by 2050

00:51:52there could be more plastic

00:51:54in the ocean than fish.

00:51:56Our waste are not

00:51:58properly managed.

00:52:00Our household waste are not properly managed.

00:52:02They can end up into the

00:52:04river and then into the sea.

00:52:06And the way that happens

00:52:08is when

00:52:10we dispose our

00:52:12plastic waste for example

00:52:14on the road

00:52:16and when it rains

00:52:18those plastics are drained

00:52:20in the gutters or the drainage

00:52:22and from there they will go

00:52:24into the small

00:52:26streams and then from the

00:52:28streams it will go into the

00:52:30river and from the river it will

00:52:32go into the sea.

00:52:34And this is not without consequences.

00:52:36Plastic debris injures

00:52:38and kills fish,

00:52:40seabirds and marine mammals

00:52:42impacting 267

00:52:44species of them.

00:52:46The impact includes

00:52:48fatalities of marine life

00:52:50and threats to the habitats they depend

00:52:52on. The dangers of plastic

00:52:54waste start immediately

00:52:56they have been dropped.

00:52:58The first thing you notice is that

00:53:00they block up all the

00:53:02canals and drainage systems within

00:53:04the city and that results in flood.

00:53:06If they manage to

00:53:08make it into the subsoil

00:53:10they also become

00:53:12a hazard to living organisms

00:53:14on the ground. The worms

00:53:16and the other organisms that

00:53:18are supposed to work

00:53:20to break down organic material

00:53:22to create fertile

00:53:24soil are unable to operate

00:53:26adequately. And they can

00:53:28also be a hindrance to the

00:53:30free circulation of

00:53:32manure and water

00:53:34subsoil.

00:53:36But the greatest impact that

00:53:38we have seen is in the ocean.

00:53:40Because once the plastics

00:53:42reach the ocean

00:53:44because they cannot be

00:53:46disintegrated and they are there almost

00:53:48permanently, the first thing they

00:53:50do is that they are likely

00:53:52to destroy breeding grounds

00:53:54for marine life.

00:53:56Now if you have

00:53:58a large amount of plastics

00:54:00floating over the ocean, what is

00:54:02happening is that you are also blocking

00:54:04sun rays from getting to the

00:54:06bottom of the ocean, which means that

00:54:08marine life that

00:54:10requires sunshine to thrive

00:54:12is not getting enough sunshine.

00:54:14You also have a

00:54:16situation where marine

00:54:18life, fish and other marine

00:54:20life, consume

00:54:22these plastics and this can

00:54:24lead to all kinds of hazards

00:54:26for them. In fact,

00:54:28there are stories of people who

00:54:30have caught fish and found

00:54:32pieces of plastic bottles

00:54:34ingested by this fish

00:54:36and a lot of these fish die.

00:54:38Now if you disrupt the

00:54:40ability of fish to

00:54:42reproduce, you are not only killing

00:54:44the fish

00:54:46that is already there, you are preventing

00:54:48the fish from multiplying as well.

00:54:50So you see there is a long-term impact

00:54:52on fish and marine

00:54:54life population as a result of this.

00:54:56But there are also impacts on

00:54:58things like coral reefs,

00:55:00which are features

00:55:02found

00:55:06in marine ecosystems

00:55:08that are very useful

00:55:10both in terms of

00:55:12the reproduction and the

00:55:14feeding of wildlife.

00:55:16And if you destroy these

00:55:18coral reefs, you are also

00:55:20directly affecting

00:55:22the population of marine wildlife.

00:55:26A glaring example often cited

00:55:28is a Californian gray whale

00:55:30which washed up dead

00:55:32on the shores.

00:55:34Autopsies indicated its stomach

00:55:36contained a pair of trousers,

00:55:38a golf ball, more than 20

00:55:40plastic bags, small towels

00:55:42and a surgical glove.

00:55:44When they reach the sea, they can

00:55:46be consumed by marine species

00:55:48like

00:55:50sea turtles.

00:55:52And we have concrete examples whereby

00:55:54we have

00:55:56recovered the carcasses of

00:55:58sea turtles and after doing the

00:56:00necropsy, meaning doing

00:56:02some operation on the carcasses

00:56:04looking at the stomach,

00:56:06we found out that there was a lot

00:56:08of plastic bags

00:56:10in the stomach,

00:56:12and most of this plastic was

00:56:14coming from households.

00:56:16So plastic can be very

00:56:18detrimental not only for the environment,

00:56:20for the biodiversity,

00:56:22but also for our

00:56:24health. And another concrete

00:56:26example of the impact of

00:56:28plastic waste is

00:56:30when those plastics

00:56:32went into the drainage,

00:56:34sometimes they crack, especially

00:56:36plastic bottles. We can see

00:56:38the example in Douala.

00:56:40When those plastics are full

00:56:42in the drainage, they block the

00:56:44passage of the water

00:56:46when it rains, causing

00:56:48inundations in the

00:56:50city of Douala and even

00:56:52in many other cities.

00:56:54So it's becoming a very serious problem that

00:56:56we need to address.

00:56:58Solid waste, especially plastic pollution,

00:57:00is the main threat to oceans.

00:57:02But liquid waste that

00:57:04ends up in the ocean is a weapon

00:57:06of mass destruction on marine

00:57:08and aquatic life too.

00:57:10Wastewater transports nutrients,

00:57:12agricultural runoffs, pesticides

00:57:14and sewage that increase the

00:57:16nitrogen content of the water,

00:57:18encouraging algae bloom.

00:57:20This kills fish that feeds

00:57:223 billion people in the world.

00:57:24Organic waste are

00:57:26rich in nutritive elements

00:57:28like nitrate and phosphorus.

00:57:30And those elements can

00:57:32cause what we call eutrophication,

00:57:34which is an excess

00:57:36enrichment of the

00:57:38water bodies in

00:57:40nutrients, which can give rise

00:57:42to a proliferation of

00:57:44invasive plant species.

00:57:46A critical case, very

00:57:48close to us, is the Lake

00:57:50Osa in the Zangei Littoral Region,

00:57:52where an invasive weed,

00:57:54Salvinia molesta, has bloomed

00:57:56since 2017.

00:57:58Marine biologists of a local NGO

00:58:00called the African Marine

00:58:02Mammal Organization, AMCO,

00:58:04found out that the invasive marine species

00:58:06thrived because the

00:58:08nitrogen content of the water had

00:58:10changed. Probably

00:58:12pollutants from nearby industries

00:58:14or the building of dams had contributed

00:58:16to changing the chemistry of the water,

00:58:18making it toxic for species.

00:58:20Like Salvinia,

00:58:22for the case of Lake Osa,

00:58:24which was a good example

00:58:26of nutrient

00:58:28enrichment into the

00:58:30lake that gave

00:58:32rise to the proliferation

00:58:34of that plant,

00:58:36which became very nuisance

00:58:38not only for the local community,

00:58:40but also for the manatee.

00:58:42Recently, researchers identified

00:58:44a threat on the River Sanaga,

00:58:46the longest river in Cameroon,

00:58:48which crosses six of the country's ten regions.

00:58:50Pollution by industries

00:58:52and population are identified

00:58:54among the threats.

00:58:56The researchers are calling for concerted efforts

00:58:58to stop this threat

00:59:00and save the river from death.

00:59:02The most renowned example

00:59:04of how pollution destroyed

00:59:06aquatic environment in Cameroon

00:59:08is the death zone created

00:59:10on the River Nyong, which is

00:59:12the center of life today.

00:59:14Tourists traveling by roads

00:59:16to the east region can no longer

00:59:18gaze into the beautiful river.

00:59:20It has been swallowed up by grass,

00:59:22fish, and aquatic birds

00:59:24no longer exist here.

00:59:26A reporter called

00:59:28marine life specialist Beatrice

00:59:30Losamba on that

00:59:32aquatic expedition with

00:59:34some of her specialists.

00:59:36Now let me come back to you in the studio

00:59:38from what we've just followed in that report.

00:59:40It comes out

00:59:42very clearly that it is a

00:59:44chain of reaction from land

00:59:46to marine.

00:59:48Nobody is safe, not even

00:59:50the fish that does not live on land.

00:59:52Of course, not even the fish.

00:59:54You just saw the old reports.

00:59:56I think I enjoyed the reports that

00:59:58we've just seen.

01:00:00It's very, very vivid

01:00:02that the marine life is

01:00:04in Tutajupati.

01:00:06Our rivers

01:00:08in Tutajupati,

01:00:10freshwater is a problem.

01:00:12It's engulfed by plastic.

01:00:14There's no way.

01:00:16You cannot even fish there.

01:00:18Most of the time, you look carefully

01:00:20and you don't even see fish.

01:00:22You see the plastic around.

01:00:24You ask yourself, how do the fish

01:00:26even survive?

01:00:28That's an issue.

01:00:30Even when you remove the plastics,

01:00:32just one day after,

01:00:34most of the environment

01:00:36we go there as activities

01:00:38to remove some of the plastics.

01:00:40Each time we remove the plastics,

01:00:42the next day when it rains,

01:00:44you come to the same situation.

01:00:46You see the same plastic

01:00:48as if nobody has touched it.

01:00:50There's a problem now with upstream.

01:00:52Where does the plastic come from?

01:00:54We call it

01:00:56from land.

01:00:58The issue of plastic pollution

01:01:00is not only directly with

01:01:02the ocean.

01:01:04We start with the land upstream

01:01:06and go downstream.

01:01:08You saw the effects

01:01:10of the plastic that's causing

01:01:12both in the freshwater and also in the marine.

01:01:14The challenge is not only plastic.

01:01:16There's equally liquid waste

01:01:18that has a huge, huge, huge

01:01:20impact on marine.

01:01:22We estimate that between now

01:01:24and 2050,

01:01:26we'll have more plastics

01:01:28than fishes.

01:01:30Because first of all,

01:01:32the plastic block cannot be produced.

01:01:34Okay?

01:01:36Now, the fish itself,

01:01:38they swallow and they die off.

01:01:40If you catch them,

01:01:42they see plastic in the container.

01:01:44Then, it's not even there.

01:01:46If you talk about plastic pollution,

01:01:48it's a problem because we have

01:01:50plastic in some of the breasts.

01:01:52Mothers see, I mean,

01:01:54children, babies,

01:01:56they see now plastic and microplastics,

01:01:58nanoplastics in the breasts.

01:02:00The human breasts, which means

01:02:02that we inhale plastics that we see.

01:02:04So, to see is really dangerous.

01:02:06Not only what the fiscal plastic we see,

01:02:08even the microplastics and nanoplastics,

01:02:10it's a problem because we breathe them,

01:02:12talk about air pollution caused by these plastics.

01:02:14So, the dangers are really very enormous.

01:02:16The government of Cameroon is

01:02:18well represented in the international scene.

01:02:20This intergovernmental

01:02:22panel on plastics,

01:02:24the NNC4,

01:02:26we're represented by a group of actors

01:02:28in Cameroon, about 20 of us

01:02:30to attend this, to negotiate

01:02:32because the plastic is not only

01:02:34locally, but not

01:02:36as well regionally, but

01:02:38worldwide. So, we are looking for ways

01:02:40now to come out of the internationally binding

01:02:42action to permit

01:02:44people now to control their use

01:02:46of the production of plastic up to

01:02:48consumption so that it should be limited.

01:02:50I come again to your question now.

01:02:52The problem of plastic, we don't have

01:02:54any problem with plastics.

01:02:56We have no problem now with

01:02:58liquid waste. We talked about

01:03:00the use of fertilizers,

01:03:02the emptying,

01:03:04most of the sewage that comes from

01:03:06or waste water that comes from industries

01:03:08is emptied into rivers and

01:03:10consequently to the seas.

01:03:12Now, we have this problem now, increase now.

01:03:14Not only

01:03:16we talked about eutrophication that might

01:03:18cause nitrogen and phosphorus content

01:03:20but as well as

01:03:22the pH of

01:03:24that particular environment, changing the place

01:03:26not fit for our lives.

01:03:28And so, we even have

01:03:30the issue of the

01:03:32poisoning as well because some of them

01:03:34has heavy metals.

01:03:36So now, the fishes around this area

01:03:38now may absorb

01:03:40the heavy metal and we eat them.

01:03:42We are affected. What is it being

01:03:44done at the level of your ministry

01:03:46to either lead

01:03:48the action or

01:03:50to encourage those

01:03:52who produce them to be able

01:03:54to manage or to tell them the best

01:03:56ways to handle liquid waste

01:03:58so they don't end up in this or in rivers.

01:04:00Thank you. I think

01:04:02the prerogative

01:04:04to give

01:04:06authorization for us to

01:04:08empty waste water into

01:04:10a restricted environment is given to the Ministry of

01:04:12Water and Energy.

01:04:14So now, in that case, it's clear

01:04:16that before they do that,

01:04:18the obligation as

01:04:20with expert view of the ministerial environment

01:04:22so there's a committee in that case now.

01:04:24Before now, the issue

01:04:26authorization now, we look at the document

01:04:28and we verify if it's done.

01:04:30Now, not only that, the ministerial

01:04:32environment with ANOR have actually

01:04:34produced now a standard

01:04:36on discharge. ANOR is the

01:04:38standard and norm? Yes, standard

01:04:40and quality control in terms of

01:04:42mines, industry. So,

01:04:44we have a list of standards

01:04:46that we work in. Before you

01:04:48discharge, you have to respect Cameroonian standards

01:04:50on that aspect. When inspectors

01:04:52go for inspections,

01:04:54they check with the industries

01:04:56so it's better in that place.

01:04:58It becomes very difficult at the level of household

01:05:00because you go and check there and there's no people

01:05:02there's nobody to lead

01:05:04trees. Maybe

01:05:06most of the big, small, maybe

01:05:08even the commercial structures, at times it be

01:05:10difficult. But industries is very

01:05:12very eminent that we control them

01:05:14and some masses.

01:05:16Polluters, by the way.

01:05:18They need to have the means because we have now

01:05:20the principle of extended producer

01:05:22so they have to ensure that

01:05:24what they are doing, what the sand and asphalt

01:05:26is well followed up and you don't need

01:05:28to pollute the environment

01:05:30because they have the means

01:05:32to ensure that the environment is

01:05:34kept clean and it's a duty that they have

01:05:36to respect. It's one of the environmental obligations

01:05:38that they are doing.

01:05:40Thanks for watching

01:05:42Inside Out on the Cameroonian Radio Television.

01:05:46Music

01:05:48Music

01:05:50Music

01:05:52Music

01:05:54Music

01:05:56Music

01:05:58Being an intricate subject,

01:06:00waste management

01:06:02needs solutions

01:06:04and efficient ones for that matter

01:06:06as well as methods to ensure

01:06:08positive results.

01:06:10By adopting specific strategies

01:06:12we can reduce

01:06:14waste and minimize

01:06:16its environmental impact

01:06:18and build a clean

01:06:20future. The world

01:06:22wide generation of

01:06:24solid waste material

01:06:26is forecasted to increase

01:06:28by around 70%.

01:06:30That is

01:06:323.4 billion metric

01:06:34tons by 2050.

01:06:36That's why moments ago we were being told

01:06:38on this program that maybe by that time

01:06:40there will be more plastic

01:06:42in the waters than the fish.

01:06:44This staggering

01:06:46number brings us to think

01:06:48about the local

01:06:50and global impact

01:06:52of waste on

01:06:54economies. Emanuela

01:06:56Vermeule did a round

01:06:58of some households in

01:07:00Yaoundé and now feeds us

01:07:02into some of the top

01:07:04management best practices

01:07:06that can

01:07:08be beneficial in

01:07:10creating a healthy

01:07:12environment for the home

01:07:14and for the

01:07:16community. Emanuela.

01:07:18Managing waste

01:07:20especially household waste

01:07:22for inhabitants of Yaoundé

01:07:24has become an issue that they have to

01:07:26deal with every day. They are deriving

01:07:28different means and methods

01:07:30so that dirt do not

01:07:32accumulate around their environment

01:07:34but get it out to the

01:07:36spot where the garbage management

01:07:38company can come for

01:07:40collection. How exactly are they

01:07:42doing this? Every home

01:07:44in Yaoundé is said to produce

01:07:46a considerable amount of household

01:07:48waste on a daily basis

01:07:50from biodegradable like peelings

01:07:52of food items to plastics

01:07:54and liquid waste. Homes are

01:07:56considered primary sources

01:07:58of household waste production.

01:08:00The proper handling of such

01:08:02undesirable material from

01:08:04how it is collected, stored

01:08:06and later disposed is what

01:08:08experts term good practices

01:08:10in waste management.

01:08:12A selection of waste to know

01:08:14which type of waste we have.

01:08:16Is it easily degradable

01:08:18or non-degradable?

01:08:20So we try to differentiate

01:08:22amongst the two.

01:08:24So thereafter we

01:08:26now see how we can conserve the waste

01:08:28and later on

01:08:30possible disposal.

01:08:32The moment we identify that this is

01:08:34degradable, we have

01:08:36a storage point for it.

01:08:38Non-degradable, another storage point

01:08:40because it facilitates

01:08:42the activities within the

01:08:44chain of custody. So much

01:08:46so that at the end point,

01:08:48even those transported to dump sites, they find

01:08:50it's very easy to apportion

01:08:52where the various waste

01:08:54types are supposed to be placed.

01:08:56Fred's mother runs a restaurant

01:08:58at the Chinga neighborhood in Yaoundé.

01:09:00Every day, the business lady

01:09:02just like many others,

01:09:04piles of waste material

01:09:06produced in the course of preparing

01:09:08different meals for their

01:09:10homes and businesses.

01:09:12All this is simply

01:09:14stored in a bucket.

01:09:16When my mother is cooking,

01:09:18after she's done cooking, like peelings of plantain,

01:09:20peelings of cocoyam, plastics,

01:09:22we gather them, we put them in a bucket.

01:09:24Then at

01:09:26five o'clock, there's always a boy who always comes here

01:09:28every evening, carry it,

01:09:30go and throw it, and we pay him

01:09:32100, 200. That's how we always manage.

01:09:34We have to keep it clean

01:09:36so people should come and eat because they should not come

01:09:38and make dirt everywhere.

01:09:40It can pass once a while.

01:09:42It does not pass every day, so we cannot

01:09:44accumulate dirt to wait for

01:09:46it to always pass. We have to manage our

01:09:48waste

01:09:50not for

01:09:52dirt to not be

01:09:54around us.

01:09:56This process is far from what experts

01:09:58say are the best practices in waste

01:10:00management. The different stages

01:10:02of handling such unwanted material

01:10:04are well known.

01:10:06In the process of consuming, we assume it's a product.

01:10:08But now after consumption,

01:10:10it becomes a waste.

01:10:12So households have a responsibility

01:10:14to

01:10:16actually identify that it's a waste

01:10:18and we need to handle

01:10:20it properly for safe disposition.

01:10:22We get the waste into the

01:10:24respective bags or containers,

01:10:26get them sealed,

01:10:28and then get them out of

01:10:30the immediate

01:10:32houses surrounding

01:10:34to a certain point which is actually

01:10:36designated to be

01:10:38where wastes are being stored.

01:10:40We store it there

01:10:42for eventual evacuation to dump sites.

01:10:44More than a majority of

01:10:46Yaounde city dwellers know

01:10:48and practice very little

01:10:50or nearly nothing about best practices

01:10:52in household waste management,

01:10:54a situation that's

01:10:56responsible for the heaps of refuse

01:10:58that litter streets, block gutters,

01:11:00fill up waterways

01:11:02with lots of consequences.

01:11:04Waste alone

01:11:06makes the environment so

01:11:08uncomfortable and waste is associated

01:11:10to a lot

01:11:12of climatic changes

01:11:14nowadays because

01:11:16this same waste, if it's not properly conserved,

01:11:18well transported,

01:11:20and eventually evacuated to

01:11:22proper dump sites, it becomes

01:11:24catastrophic.

01:11:26So much so that

01:11:28somebody was not sick,

01:11:30you find yourself sick,

01:11:32and it will entail

01:11:34an expenditure. So if there's an

01:11:36agency to regulate

01:11:38respective council

01:11:40processes and procedures

01:11:42to

01:11:44get this waste,

01:11:46respect the chain of production

01:11:48and chain of custody to

01:11:50permanent dump sites,

01:11:52it's going to be profitable to

01:11:54every citizen and the nation

01:11:56at large.

01:11:58As experts advance, the process towards

01:12:00a proper household waste management system

01:12:02involves everyone, from

01:12:04households to government and the general public

01:12:06in order to keep cities

01:12:08dirt free and lower the

01:12:10impact and reduce

01:12:12the impacts of poor waste

01:12:14handling on the environment

01:12:16and on human health.

01:12:20The problems

01:12:22are obvious, the solutions

01:12:24too. However,

01:12:26there comes the problem of

01:12:28the body that will actually

01:12:30provide these solutions.

01:12:32As lucrative

01:12:34as proper waste management

01:12:36can be, the capital

01:12:38cost of operation is

01:12:40highly priced.

01:12:42If we wait for the government,

01:12:44it might take forever.

01:12:46The few private waste management

01:12:48companies dotted around

01:12:50the country can cluster together

01:12:52to promote

01:12:54the cause of a cleaner

01:12:56cities and ultimately

01:12:58a cleaner country.

01:13:00We know the problem,

01:13:02we know the solutions,

01:13:04but how do we go about them?

01:13:06When are we

01:13:08going to stop talking

01:13:10and start doing?

01:13:12Kiliandat Ndifonse's

01:13:14policy is of essence

01:13:16here.

01:13:18The exponential

01:13:20increase in household

01:13:22and other township waste in Cameroon

01:13:24imposed a rethink

01:13:26by the state to look for

01:13:28ways of managing what had become

01:13:30a kind of embarrassment

01:13:32to everyone. So in

01:13:342018, a special

01:13:36exercise duty on

01:13:38some important goods was prepared

01:13:40and voted in parliament. A year later

01:13:42in 2019,

01:13:44the prime minister, head of government, signed

01:13:46a decree of implementation

01:13:48of the law and the collection

01:13:50of the special exercise duty

01:13:52has been impressive and consistent.

01:13:54At 0.5%

01:13:56in 2020,

01:13:5812,492,876,000

01:14:04CFA francs was collected,

01:14:06raised to 1%

01:14:08in 2021 by

01:14:10another text, 15,553,000

01:14:12153,197,000

01:14:14153,197,000

01:14:16CFA francs came in.

01:14:18The figure was doubled

01:14:20to 32,254,242,000

01:14:22to 32,254,242,000

01:14:24to 32,254,242,000

01:14:26CFA francs

01:14:28and over 31 billion

01:14:30in 2023.

01:14:32So in three years,

01:14:34the customs collected close to

01:14:36100 billion CFA francs

01:14:38from the special exercise duty.

01:14:40According to

01:14:42the prime ministerial decree of

01:14:44July 24, 2023,

01:14:465% of the funds

01:14:48got to the

01:14:50customs. That is

01:14:52the state. 95%

01:14:54to the city councils,

01:14:56councils and sub-divisional

01:14:58councils. Yaoundé city

01:15:00council takes 17.5%.

01:15:02Douala city

01:15:04council gets

01:15:0617.5%.

01:15:08Bafusam, Bamenda,

01:15:10Betuaboya, Iboluva-Edea,

01:15:12Garuwa, Kumba, Limbe,

01:15:14Kribi, Maruwa, Ngandori and

01:15:16Kongsamba share 35%.

01:15:18The other councils share

01:15:2030%. These

01:15:22percentages represent huge sums

01:15:24of money that can manage

01:15:26waste and carry out

01:15:28other projects. The riddle

01:15:30is to situate where there is

01:15:32the missing link. The customs

01:15:34department does a marvellous job

01:15:36to collect the special exercise

01:15:38duty. The money is deposited

01:15:40in the central treasury pool.

01:15:42This is where trouble begins.

01:15:44The state always has

01:15:46burning issues to settle

01:15:48with money and clearing

01:15:50debt is certainly far

01:15:52down the scale of preference.

01:15:54So simply, more

01:15:56urgent state issues, for example

01:15:58salaries, are settled.

01:16:00At this time, mounds of

01:16:02garbage fight for airspace

01:16:04in cities and municipalities

01:16:06of the country.

01:16:08This is where the missing link

01:16:10is found. The solution rests

01:16:12in a new text which should

01:16:14make it clear that when

01:16:16the customs collect the special

01:16:18exercise duty, the money

01:16:20should be deposited directly

01:16:22in an account for the purpose

01:16:24under the operational supervision

01:16:26of the special council

01:16:28support fund for mutual assistance

01:16:30FAICOM. This way,

01:16:32the cities and other councils

01:16:34will have an easy access

01:16:36to the funds meant

01:16:38for waste management and

01:16:40the results will be clean towns and

01:16:42cities of Cameroon. Not

01:16:44distinctly repulsive eyesores

01:16:46with mounds of waste

01:16:48used as location signposts

01:16:50with such shameful

01:16:52names as

01:16:54Garifu Kaka.

01:16:56On that

01:16:58numerous notes there with Kilian

01:17:00Da Diffon, it

01:17:02equally tells you how grim

01:17:04the situation has been in

01:17:06Yaounde. You know, solid and

01:17:08liquid waste has been present and just

01:17:10so present that

01:17:12whole neighborhoods and junctions are named

01:17:14Garifu Kaka, you know,

01:17:16by dump and solid

01:17:18and waste names.

01:17:20It should be troubling

01:17:22to people like you who are the policy makers.

01:17:24Well, policy maker

01:17:26was the main policy maker

01:17:28Minister, eh?

01:17:30No, actually, Minister. It comes because we propose

01:17:32and then it's validated at the upper stream

01:17:34and call it the parliamentarians

01:17:36as well, and then we

01:17:38implement. Actually, I think

01:17:40like what the

01:17:42report, the issue is

01:17:44this overlap of functions

01:17:46Again. And the text

01:17:48that we have. Again and

01:17:50again. Yes, this overlap

01:17:52each person has said to bring

01:17:54out, they said the solution

01:17:56We have a solution

01:17:58There is a problem, there is a

01:18:00solution. The missing gap now

01:18:02is to bring out these

01:18:04two together and now

01:18:06find out a way

01:18:08I mean a complete, a leeway

01:18:10We are talking about, I want to

01:18:12salute the effort that the prime minister

01:18:14has actually done so far by actually signing

01:18:16in July

01:18:182023 this special

01:18:20exercise

01:18:22fund

01:18:24asking for 3 years

01:18:26now you see the actual

01:18:28almost 100 billion

01:18:30now to give that to cancel now

01:18:32Where is the money?

01:18:34Well, you heard

01:18:36in the report as well that because of

01:18:38pressing it, we try to reallocate

01:18:40some of the funds. But if at all

01:18:42a city like

01:18:44Yaounde

01:18:46says Yaounde, government actually

01:18:48proposed to manage Yaounde

01:18:50problem with 4.7 billion

01:18:52by the same

01:18:54Yaounde city council in 2016

01:18:56World Bank report

01:18:58shows that we need 15 billion

01:19:00that's 2016

01:19:02then if you come now

01:19:04just imagine, maybe about 20 billion

01:19:06this is the money we need

01:19:08to ensure

01:19:10that

01:19:12we can really properly manage waste

01:19:14on a daily, I call it for annually

01:19:16you see actually

01:19:18the amount that is divided as almost 17

01:19:20point something for the cities

01:19:22Yaounde is quite a good

01:19:24chunk. Our problem should

01:19:26be how that money should be properly managed

01:19:28and to who is attributed

01:19:30and then we need to have a proper

01:19:32follow up. Now one of the conditions

01:19:34in the same this Prime Minister

01:19:36actually saluted

01:19:38that each country should come out with

01:19:40a waste management

01:19:42plan

01:19:44that's now the problem

01:19:46now. The minister for all

01:19:48these years our councils don't have any

01:19:50waste management plan

01:19:52they had council development plan

01:19:54now they need now a waste management plan

01:19:56because it's actually one of the

01:19:58requirements for

01:20:00a good council to need

01:20:02to have this plan

01:20:04that is their prime activity too

01:20:06they should because

01:20:08I'm not like trying to

01:20:10index councils

01:20:12most of the councils that if you look at

01:20:14when I was a delegate

01:20:16for maybe the meetings

01:20:18for the deliberations

01:20:20there's no fund allocated for waste

01:20:22so means even the council

01:20:24don't even see waste as a problem

01:20:26so if we need

01:20:28only one to come out from this

01:20:30mess, the money that is allocated

01:20:32should be given to council and should be

01:20:34follow up

01:20:36now if you have

01:20:38a waste

01:20:40or council waste management plan

01:20:42or inter-council in case they have

01:20:44like a city council

01:20:46city management

01:20:48city waste management plan

01:20:50now it would be easier now for somebody

01:20:52anywhere to see

01:20:54where there's a need to maybe put in money

01:20:56or to support the council in one area

01:20:58or the other. If there's no fund

01:21:00or no waste management

01:21:02plan, it becomes difficult for us

01:21:04to see what is happening. The minister of local

01:21:06development, I'll call it Midevel

01:21:08is actually working with the councils

01:21:10the minister of

01:21:12urban development is working with the councils

01:21:14the minister of environment is working with the councils

01:21:16so we need now to federate this

01:21:18so that we help the council

01:21:20to have a good document

01:21:22and that's why at the level of ministry

01:21:24actually in the days that I will have to produce

01:21:26a guide, as I said, a guide now to permit

01:21:28councils now, a guide now to permit councils

01:21:30to draw up a good and validated

01:21:32I mean completed

01:21:34council management plan

01:21:36and remember that this

01:21:38waste management plan

01:21:40according to the prime ministerial text of

01:21:422012 says that the minister of environment

01:21:44is the one to

01:21:46approve

01:21:48so this, that's why we have a policy issue

01:21:50that we need now to ensure that

01:21:52it's well done and it's approved according to

01:21:54national and international regulations

01:21:56we have people that are coming out of the city

01:21:58they want to come in to transform waste

01:22:00into electricity, they want to transform waste

01:22:02into other products and we want

01:22:04them, but we need to

01:22:06create a platform to see where

01:22:08each one is going to place

01:22:10so that we don't have a multiplicity of

01:22:12actors in one area and then an area

01:22:14without anything, it actually creates a small

01:22:16problem somehow, while the means of

01:22:18commerce now wrote, actually

01:22:20banning the export of

01:22:22recycle

01:22:24plastics, it became

01:22:26an issue, why it came?

01:22:28because there's a company

01:22:30that's proposing a model that

01:22:32the plastic that we're having

01:22:34is too small for

01:22:36for the plant, it needs more plastic

01:22:38so we said, ok, we want

01:22:40we need to go, we want to call it

01:22:42because it's called the mate in Cameroon

01:22:44policy, and we think that

01:22:46it's a good practice that

01:22:48exporting plastics outside, when we can

01:22:50transform here, the process is called

01:22:52bottle to bottle, so you actually

01:22:54call it a model that they want to

01:22:56in this case, we want to collect all the waste here

01:22:58and transform here, and I see now the

01:23:00increase of plastic collection, I mean there's

01:23:02now an increase in plastic collection

01:23:04in most of the rivers and things

01:23:06selling now to this guy

01:23:08and this guy, this company

01:23:10is one of the major actors

01:23:12in this stock exchange

01:23:14to ensure that he too can

01:23:16play a part in contributing specifically for plastic

01:23:18now the other actors

01:23:20they want to come now to transform

01:23:22some of the bio LPG

01:23:24petroleum, equalified petroleum

01:23:26gas, we want these guys

01:23:28but you know they can only come in

01:23:30when the situation

01:23:32is clear, one, if at all the household

01:23:34is able to separate the waste

01:23:36from the source, and now

01:23:38keep that waste

01:23:40can sell it to this

01:23:42structure, they can buy it now, they help

01:23:44the household, and also produce gas

01:23:46from that area, and so we

01:23:48only have this different speciality

01:23:50of the waste stream now, if we

01:23:52have these actors and they come and they have

01:23:54good intentions, working with the local council

01:23:56first of all, because the council

01:23:58see themselves in the process

01:24:00seeing that a force within

01:24:02their various

01:24:04waste management plan

01:24:06now, and now, acting now to the policy

01:24:08of the government, now in this case now

01:24:10the issue becomes now resolved

01:24:12now you raised an issue there concerning this

01:24:14idea of sorting

01:24:16waste, and it should come from the base

01:24:18like you say, specifically household

01:24:20waste, that is a challenge, and how

01:24:22do you think we can get to that, we can

01:24:24obtain, we can have households

01:24:26to knowing that you don't dump

01:24:28bottles and plastics and

01:24:30every other home waste

01:24:32together, who takes the message

01:24:34to the close class?

01:24:36Thank you very much for the question, we have the local

01:24:38councils that are there, very close

01:24:40they have, that's their constituency

01:24:42that's the word they use

01:24:44they need to kind of add sensitization

01:24:46inform the population

01:24:48Do they make provisions for that?

01:24:50No, what I'm saying is in this case

01:24:52an operator, a service provider

01:24:54comes and meet the councils

01:24:56I'm interested in bottles, like you see

01:24:58here the case of

01:25:00the Tuba council

01:25:02as well as the city council

01:25:04they come in and tell them that

01:25:06I want plastics

01:25:08now this may be a convention

01:25:10a contract is signed with the council

01:25:12and then they go, maybe go to

01:25:14household and give their containers

01:25:16or their trash, they cannot

01:25:18give the frequency of when to come

01:25:20and collect so that they don't pile

01:25:22they collect now, in this case now, you see the issue

01:25:24and this practice is what is done in Rwanda

01:25:26Kufulu is full

01:25:28the capacity is overcapacitated

01:25:30they need to look at a different place

01:25:32this is an issue that we are trying to look at

01:25:34and the people interested

01:25:36to say okay, before we, you know

01:25:38there's a problem of Kufulu that is full

01:25:40we are coming with a solution that maybe

01:25:42we start there and try to

01:25:44decarbonize

01:25:46and maybe transform

01:25:48their waste that they have into electricity

01:25:50into other forms

01:25:52all discussions that we are having

01:25:54at the prime ministry, at the various

01:25:56ministerial departments, but you need not to

01:25:58consent all of this effort now

01:26:00not to look for a way for

01:26:02a plan, like what the

01:26:04president said, he needs an immediate solution

01:26:06an urgent one of course

01:26:08and how do we get there?

01:26:10yes

01:26:12this is the way the challenge starts

01:26:14and that's why the presidency

01:26:16is handling it, it's own way

01:26:18it's moving, working with

01:26:20the various ministries

01:26:22and gather information now to come

01:26:24maybe very very soon

01:26:26we maybe have a leeway

01:26:28from this solution to see who comes

01:26:30because most of the issues that we see

01:26:32that we have, the issue of

01:26:34finance, you look at it very well, from what the

01:26:36the collection

01:26:38that we just have in the past year, 100 billion

01:26:40is quite interesting, really good

01:26:42now we may say

01:26:44that the issue of finance is

01:26:46beginning to go down

01:26:48another problem will come in our technology transfer

01:26:50we need to transform now

01:26:52what are the technologies available

01:26:54I've just listed a few

01:26:56we can now encompass

01:26:58to enjoy this process

01:27:00that's another issue now

01:27:02and then now, we need to issue

01:27:04legal procedures

01:27:06who comes in to take what

01:27:08now when you handle these 3 or 4 issues

01:27:10now, you see the problem of waste

01:27:12now, it's resolved

01:27:14now, when you say all of that

01:27:16it means that you are confident

01:27:18that it can be done

01:27:20so, if given the current stakes

01:27:22we have

01:27:24major cities still

01:27:26under the weight of

01:27:28waste

01:27:30how long should we wait

01:27:32or how soon should we hope

01:27:34to see our cities freed

01:27:36of this current, uncatered

01:27:38for waste that is

01:27:40almost invading the whole

01:27:42life ecosystem

01:27:44it can be immediate, it can be long term

01:27:46it can have short, medium

01:27:48and long term

01:27:50for short term

01:27:52I think this is where the council needs to come in

01:27:54to sit up

01:27:56to take the responsibilities

01:27:58to discipline, to ensure that

01:28:00this issue

01:28:02is handled

01:28:04is the ground level enough

01:28:06I don't want to tell what is happening

01:28:08because if you dig deep

01:28:10if you dig deep

01:28:12you see that

01:28:14the local council

01:28:16is complaining that the city council

01:28:18is doing their job

01:28:20and the city council is saying the local council is doing their job

01:28:22finally, you have this complaint

01:28:24coming, I mean

01:28:26competencies transferred and maybe removed

01:28:28it's a problem, that one should be touched

01:28:30and when two elephants fight

01:28:32it is the grass that suffers

01:28:34so you see that issue, they give you

01:28:36the council are really doing very well

01:28:38you have this good cooperation between a level of council

01:28:40and this is where the

01:28:42Minister of Urban Development

01:28:44comes in to help supervise

01:28:46this one

01:28:48we work now with other

01:28:50Ministerial level, we work now with other ministries

01:28:52like Minister of Environment

01:28:54like Minister of Urban Development

01:28:56even the Minister of Water and Energy

01:28:58because we talk about ways to use water

01:29:00now we have a platform we are creating

01:29:02under the supervision of the Prime Minister

01:29:04now when you have this

01:29:06this is now, this is now

01:29:08long term

01:29:10long term will be that

01:29:12we don't want to even get long term

01:29:14because it's not something we want

01:29:16you see, just imagine

01:29:18the solution is now

01:29:20we need to act now

01:29:22and that's why right now, as I speak

01:29:24my Minister, Excellency

01:29:26is now holding a meeting

01:29:28seat on Booth

01:29:30because he wants actors to come in

01:29:32and buy, we go operational

01:29:34it's too much talking

01:29:36it's too much talk

01:29:38it's talk, talk, you need to talk with actions

01:29:40so the actions should come from all the various levels

01:29:42and I think that

01:29:44from my readings

01:29:46I feel that

01:29:48they are going, but we need now to

01:29:50tell some people to wake up

01:29:52from where they are sleeping

01:29:54and in this case, I think I have to be straight

01:29:56the council should sit up

01:29:58and forget about the issue, who is holding what

01:30:00and leave their various differences

01:30:02we work to clean our cities

01:30:04in Cameroon

01:30:06Cameroon cannot be an eyesore, no

01:30:08we should have a way forward

01:30:10and that should come at this meeting

01:30:12and one aspect too, the population

01:30:14I think the population has so much to do

01:30:16their contribution is that

01:30:18we need to call it mindset

01:30:20waste

01:30:22don't waste

01:30:24if you are done, you someone look at the

01:30:26trash can, put it down

01:30:28and you ask him, if I don't do it

01:30:30what's the work of ISACAM

01:30:32what do you do, you need to put it

01:30:34so if a city like that, maybe put one council

01:30:36or two council police

01:30:38and give some trashes

01:30:40next time, or you send a child

01:30:42you say no, let me go and put it in the dump

01:30:44and then the frequency of collection

01:30:46is an issue too

01:30:48you put a dump or a trash can

01:30:50you spend maybe two or three weeks to come and collect

01:30:52what do you expect, there's a problem

01:30:54so you need to frequency it, and I was told

01:30:56that frequency of collection depends

01:30:58on the availability of finance

01:31:00so if there's a finance

01:31:02you see that they are interwoven

01:31:04the issue of finance is gradually being resolved

01:31:06because the prime minister has taken

01:31:08has handled the bull by the sun

01:31:10by bringing out this special duty

01:31:12excess duty

01:31:14that the ones permit

01:31:16over 75, and all the money we give it to FECOM

01:31:18to manage, FECOM is actually

01:31:20the bank of councils

01:31:22they cannot get access to this fund now

01:31:24now we have this thing, it becomes not easy now

01:31:26that one is handled, now you should keep defenses

01:31:28and go to work

01:31:30you said a very good question

01:31:32when households separate the waste

01:31:34and then the waste comes now to somebody's garden

01:31:36the person coming to collect this waste

01:31:38now, can't have one container

01:31:40put everything, lump everything

01:31:42that effort is wasted

01:31:44exactly

01:31:46so now, that's why I see

01:31:48part of the council now playing now

01:31:50ensure that the waste that this

01:31:52household have

01:31:54I mean they have tried to sort out

01:31:56now go to a specialized

01:31:58service provider to go to those various households

01:32:00and collect just their waste

01:32:02if this one is installed

01:32:04then

01:32:06the waste, I just say that

01:32:08what is collected so far

01:32:10it's just

01:32:12it's not up to, I would say, 23%

01:32:14so there's a problem somewhere, that's where we need to go

01:32:16Mr. Mbuha-Eisen

01:32:18I want you to look at that camera

01:32:20and reassure Cameroonians that

01:32:22yes, we can

01:32:24yes

01:32:26we've listened to what

01:32:28we've said so far, is we need

01:32:30now to ensure

01:32:32that we have the capability

01:32:34we have the manpower

01:32:36as I've put it, resources are there

01:32:38we can, if we can

01:32:40do this together

01:32:42as one person

01:32:44to move forward

01:32:46and then we're able to join the head of state

01:32:48in his call

01:32:50that we need to keep our cities very clean

01:32:52Mr. Eisen Mbuha

01:32:54he is the sub-director

01:32:56of Norm and Standard

01:32:58in Cameroon's Ministry of

01:33:00Environment, Nature Protection

01:33:02and Sustainable

01:33:04Development, he was guest

01:33:06on Inside Out this evening

01:33:08thank you for your insights

01:33:10I should be the one thanking you for creating this forum

01:33:12for us to talk and exchange and receive

01:33:14exact emissions of various ministries

01:33:16and how we can better handle

01:33:18our country, Cameroon

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01:33:36The fix for the trash holdup

01:33:38in Cameroon today

01:33:40can definitely not be

01:33:42a multiplication of the number

01:33:44of trashcans on the pavements

01:33:46far from it

01:33:48Cameroon's garbage

01:33:50disposal problem

01:33:52is less about

01:33:54the number and location of public

01:33:56trashcans in towns

01:33:58than it is about

01:34:00educating the public about

01:34:02reducing the amount of

01:34:04trash they produce

01:34:06and how to dispose

01:34:08of the waste they produce

01:34:10so wastes can

01:34:12become a source

01:34:14of wealth

01:34:16this will require

01:34:18a paradigm shift from the

01:34:20authorities in charge of cities

01:34:22so they no longer

01:34:24consider rubbish as

01:34:26material without any value

01:34:28but as a resource

01:34:30to be valued

01:34:32in order to derive

01:34:34economic and health benefits

01:34:36useful for all

01:34:38moreover

01:34:40with decentralization

01:34:42the collection of garbage

01:34:44as well as the treatment

01:34:46will certainly be

01:34:48opened up to competition

01:34:50which will better resolve

01:34:52the problem of

01:34:54unsanitary conditions

01:34:56in our cities

01:34:58the establishment of a

01:35:00waste pre-collection system

01:35:02is recommended here

01:35:04one man's trash

01:35:06another man's

01:35:08treasure

01:35:10and that's my take on the program today

01:35:12many thanks for watching

01:35:14from the entire crew

01:35:16and me

01:35:18it's bye for now

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Category

Transcription

Recommandations