The populations of the town of Vélingara, in the Kolda region, joined the National Cleanup Day initiated by the President of the Republic, Bassirou Diomaye Faye. By going out massively, Saturday June 1, to clean the places targeted by the local executive in collaboration with technical services and civil society. The bus station has thus cleaned itself up. The public transport vehicles stopped and gave way to a crowd of citizens made up of heads of decentralized technical services, activists from the Pastef party (in power), anonymous citizens and especially employees of Sonaged (National Society waste management) and Fera (Autonomous Road Maintenance Fund). They had by their side the Prefect Thierno Souleymane Sow, as well as his deputy Ndèye Sall Ndaw. Every nook and cranny was cleared of excess trash, leftover food, plastic bags and sand that covered the cement floor. After this location, for almost 500 meters, the administrative authorities directed “setal local” operations along the road axis that leads to the Prefecture, with special care administered at the health center and at the Prefecture. Ndèye Sall Ndaw, assistant to the Prefect, recalled the reasons for the choice made on the bus station. She said: “3 days ago we met with the department heads, Fera and Sonaged to identify potential sites for cleaning. We decided to devote this launch day to the bus station which receives a lot of people, with its restaurants, its places of commerce, even though it is dirty. And then added: “This must be perpetuated. But it cannot succeed without a change in behavior. There needs to be a change in behavior. Because cleaning is good, but not dirtying is better. We should not wait for clean-up orders to do so. Just as we sweep our homes every day, we must do the same in our workplace. People need to be aware of the health consequences of keeping places open to the public clean.” Ms. Ndaw asked those responsible for the bus station to initiate the installation of garbage bins in different corners of the station so that users have the reflex not to dirty the place. It should also be remembered that the Diaobé Weekly Market, on the occasion of the “national set setal” day, also cleaned up. The sub-prefect of Saré Coly Sallé, Abdoul Konaté, was not idle that Saturday. Because this market is also a “big garbage dump”.
By Abdoulaye KAMARA – [email protected]
