The irresponsible use of the trash cans within the Bamenda City including burning of refuse inside the plastic trash cans is fast pushing the Government Delegate, Vincent Nji Ndumu, to remove the trash cans and allow city dwellers at the mercy of security forces.

City dwellers have been blamed for generalised irresponsibility in the management of waste disposal, making things too difficult to handle.

When finally these trash cans are withdrawn from public use, anybody found disposing off house refuse along the road or in streams as is the case now would have to face the law. The security forces would be placed on alert, ready to arrest any culprit caught red-handed or on information from neighbours.

Since the people believe more in brute force to have things done the right way, the Government Delegate says, the City Council spends FCFA 5 million annually on sensitising the public on how to accompany the action of the City Council to keep the city clean.

In a very bitter tone, Vincent Nji Ndumu wondered how a normal human being would embark on setting fire inside or under a plastic trash which can reduce the trashcan to ashes. In some areas the City Council has had to replace these trash cans severally, yet the burning goes on.

According to the Government Delegate, when he was appointed at the helm of the Bamenda City Council, there were only two trash cans within the city and he embarked on the importation of these trash cans from Europe.

“It is common in Bamenda to blame the Government Delegate but nobody is taking responsibility of their own contribution in the mess,” Ndumu said.

Every drainage in Bamenda City is characterised by dumped domestic refuse blocking free flow of water. Small streams are presently filled with plastics, cans and other household waste, serving as breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

This habit orchestrated by city dwellers is jeopardizing government efforts in the fight against malaria with the distribution of mosquito bed nets.

The Bamenda Government Delegate says hygiene and sanitation should be everybody’s concern. He added that with a population of over 700,000 if the city dwellers don’t want to be responsible, “you do not expect a policeman to be placed after everybody”.