By Tong Akok Anei Mawien
Disposing of waste products is our collective responsibility; let us do our responsibility or our part as citizens and then leave the ball in the court of the concerned institutions. The government (concern institutions) will not come to regulate or inform you how to drop the bottles of water when you have empty them, or how to dispose of the waste from your kitchen; it is upon you to tidily dispose of the waste from your kitchen as you await for the representatives of the public health or concern institutions to collect it; hence, it is your daily responsibility wherever or whenever you have waste from the products you bought, in the market, around your working area, or on our normal streets.
“Keep Juba Clean” is a text pasted in every product that is being produced here in Juba and the carton of a person dropping a waste into dustbin is an art pasted in every product produced far from Juba, this is educative information that is intended for any individual who might consume that particular product, this shows that waste disposal and waste management are a major concern worldwide. In our Juba City, you get all over the streets flying bottles with the word Keep Juba Clean, some of us who can read and write don’t see this as their responsibility, one quench his/her thirst and immediately throw the bottles anyhow and walk his/her way, this is our collective responsibility, if you have produced a waste, keep it in were the waste is kept. To the people who cannot read or write, in our residential areas and in the market, it is the role of public health institutions and environmentalists to educate them on what these two signs mean and how they should dispose off the waste they produce. I have never encountered public awareness or education by public health or environmentalists on some topics of concern like this one of waste.
The major impact posed by this waste product has a direct effect through diseases and will have a future impact on our waters and aquatic life. These flying bottles, bumpers, and other waste flow directly into our river Nile, and some of us are drinking from it through water tankers because there is no access to a well-established water supply in South Sudan. Let’s educate our citizens in this particular part to keep our environment healthy for our wellbeing. Some of them are just lacking education, but they can respond to the concern in terms of being responsible in such issues. Let’s shoulder our own responsibilities as citizens and leave the responsibility of government to the government.
The author can be reached via Tel: 0929300008/ 0988011119 Email: tongakok7170@gmail.com / tongakok47.@gmail.com