The Freetown Waste Transformers (FWT) has on Thursday, 15th December 2022 concluded a one-day workshop where it presented; the findings and recommendations arising from the Capacity building workshop conducted by FWT with support from Freetown City Council (FCC), to assess the status of the Waste Collection Management Association (WCMA) as an industry association. And the recently Google approved waste management mobile application developed to better coordinate waste collection and management activities in Sierra Leone, to get feedback from its target beneficiaries.
It was a continuation of ongoing efforts to build the capacity of the WCMA with a view to introduce strategies that would allow the association to function with’ authoritative prominence’ in advocating for the sustainability of the waste management sector in Sierra Leone.
Key among the findings as presented by FWT’s CEO, Ami Dumbuya-Jarr include:
1) Despite the association’s mandate to govern Waste Collectors in the waste management sector, the WCMA lacked the ‘authoritative Prominence’ to serve as a umbrella body for the waste management sector.
2) With additional technical assistance, the association and its membership can deliver on its mandate of delivering sustainable waste collection services in Freetown.
It was also revealed that the WCMA lacked a proper structure to operate as an industry association – The association was not set up as permanent outfit but rather a quick-fix conduit of the FCC to tackle waste management service bottlenecks in Freetown.
To this end, FWT made a number of recommendations that generally seek to organize and streamline the operations of the WCMA. Some of the recommendations include;
• the development of structures and bye –laws,
• data collection and stratification of membership,
• setting up of a functioning secretariat and governance structure.
The Workshop brought together over 100 participants including relevant partners and leaders across the waste management sector who interfaced and gave feedbacks on the newly Google approved mobile app.
