Residents clean up Garowe

In the Wadajir area of Garowe, residents are taking measures to clean up the city and improve the general conditions of hygiene for IDPs and other residents of the community. The Community has decided that disposing garbage that litters the banks of the river should be a priority for the local government and requested that garbage collection points be built in that zone.   Children collect empty cans amongst the garbage, by the river in Garowe According to UNHCR, 1,800 IDPs live in that area, in sheds made of rags. The makeshift, rounded tents are spread over the 30 km of the river bank. Although the local government has a system in place for garbage collection and its disposal, it is not adequate in this area, as plastic bags line the river side, children scavenge empty cans and bottles in mounds of garbage and use the rusted bodies of two cars as a playground. The IDPs bathe in the river, and use the river water to wash their clothes. With this garbage collection initiative the residents are hoping to reduce the spread of diseases such as cholera. The construction of the “point” - a 20x10m concrete, walled rectangle, with a guard’s house is nearly complete – it will be operational by the end of June. People from the Community will then be hired (and making an income) to collect the garbage along the river, and drop it at the “point”, under a guard’s supervision. The municipality will collect it twice monthly and burry it outside of town. The community is tasked to maintain the place. Garowe town counts two such new collection points, for 30,000 to 40,000 inhabitants. This is one of seven projects being undertaken by the Garowe local government as part of the Joint Programme on Local Governance and Service Delivery. The Joint Programme places communities at the core of local development, to ensure that the services provided are relevant to a given community and that the local governments are accountable to the people and transparent. The Joint Programme is implemented by UN-Habitat, UNICEF, UNDP, ILO and UNCDF throughout Somalia. Read more...