By Mama A. Touray
The Chairman of Brikama Area Council, Yankuba Darboe, in a recent interview discussing the council’s priorities in tackling challenges, said trash collection is a top priority. The council plans to procure eleven trucks, each worth D7 million to D8 million, to address the issue of trash collection.
During the interview, Yankuba said, “We start with trucks this year, and we are expecting that those trucks will be delivered in December or January. When we have our own trucks collecting trash, we won’t be disrupted by rain or mud because it will be during the dry season, and each of the trucks costs around D7 million to D8 million.”
He added that out of the eleven trucks, five are trash collectors, two are open trucks, one is a septic tank, and another is a skip truck with ten skips where people can dispose of trash, which the truck will then collect. Additionally, the council will procure a caterpillar.
He explained that the open truck and caterpillar will help in collecting garbage at dumpsites, while a bulldozer will assist in leveling roads that the council plans to construct with gravel.
“It will rain, and places will flood, but that lasts for four months. So this year, we will sacrifice and accept the delays until next year. This year, we are following the big trucks, and we started the GBA process in February and issued a tender for eleven trucks. Thank God it took time, but a couple of weeks ago, GPPA approved the successful bidder,” he said.
Upon selecting the qualified bidder, Darboe said they notified all the applicants, giving them an opportunity to appeal, but they had not received any appeals at the time of the interview.
The Chairman mentioned that once the contract is signed, the successful bidder has ten weeks to deliver the trucks.
He continued, “So when we have those trucks, it will be a start. This year, we will have achieved something. Our entire year’s budget is spent on these trucks because trash collection isn’t limited to just four months; rain lasts four months, while trash collection is from January to December.”
Women in Old Yundum, around Nema Kunku, who voted for him, have trash collection as their main challenge, which is why it became a priority for the council.
According to Yankuba, they attempted to address the issue with a private company through the Seneya project, but it was not successful.
“That is why we say, this year, people can say and write as much as they want in newspapers, but we will bear it. However, we will ensure that we have big trucks to ease these problems, and next year we will start working on drainage.”
