‘We’ll Be Accountable’: BAC Chairman Darboe Pledges Transparent Management of D30M WACA Waste Equipment to Combat Kotu Stream Pollution

Written by: Alieu Jallow

Brikama Area Council (BAC) Chairman Yankuba Darboe has pledged to ensure transparency, accountability and effective management of over D30 million worth of waste management equipment handed over by the West Africa Coastal Areas (WACA) Resilience Investment Project to improve solid waste management and reduce flooding along the Kotu Stream.

Speaking at the official handover ceremony, Darboe assured the WACA Project that the council would safeguard the equipment and deploy it efficiently to improve waste collection services across the project communities.

“We assure WACA that this equipment will be put to effective use. The Brikama Area Council is committed to ensuring operational continuity, transparency and accountability in managing these assets. We will work closely with the intended communities to maximize impact, strengthen community participation and build a cleaner, healthier environment for our people,” Darboe said.

Poor waste management remains one of The Gambia’s most pressing environmental challenges, particularly along the Kotu Stream, where indiscriminate dumping continues to pollute waterways, obstruct water flow and contribute to seasonal flooding. The latest intervention forms part of WACA’s broader strategy to strengthen solid waste management and reduce flood risk in communities along the stream.

To support this effort, WACA formally handed over more than 319 waste collection items valued at nearly D30 million to the Brikama Area Council and the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), the two local authorities responsible for waste collection within the project’s intervention area.

The equipment includes one compactor truck, two tipper trucks, two tractor heads with trailers, two trailers fitted with tipping mechanisms, 12 tricycles, 100 wheelbarrows and 200 trash bins. Together, these assets are expected to improve waste collection, keep the Kotu Stream free of solid waste, enhance water flow and reduce the risk of flooding.

Dr. Muhammed Lamin Sanyang, Project Coordinator of the WACA Project, said the intervention responds directly to concerns repeatedly raised by the 11 communities along the Kotu Stream during the project’s three years of engagement.

He explained that while the project had invested heavily in community sensitization, awareness campaigns and training on proper waste management, a lack of adequate waste collection equipment had continued to undermine progress.

“For the last two years, and now into the third year, we have been carrying out short-term interventions. But after just a few months, the waste finds its way back into the stream because regular waste collection has been lacking. Today, we are responding to that challenge by providing the councils with the equipment needed to sustain waste collection services,” Dr. Sanyang said.

He noted that the equipment is intended to establish an integrated waste collection system — from household-level collection using wheelbarrows and tricycles, to transporting larger volumes of waste with tractors, trailers, compactors and tipper trucks to designated disposal sites.

Also speaking at the ceremony, Kanifing Municipal Council Chief Executive Officer Pa Sait Ceesay commended the WACA Project for its support, emphasizing that addressing environmental challenges requires strong collaboration between institutions and development partners.

The equipment will primarily serve communities along the Kotu Stream, where improved waste collection is expected to reduce indiscriminate dumping, promote cleaner neighbourhoods, improve drainage and strengthen climate resilience against recurrent flooding.