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Under the Leadership of Her Worship Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Freetown City Council (FCC) has handed over 40 tricycles to youth groups.
According to Project Coordinator, Mr. Augustine Kamara, the tricycles will be used for waste collection in order to maintain the cleanliness of Freetown municipality by doing door-to-door waste collection and engage in public space cleaning. He added that, the program is setup to create employment for Sierra Leoneans through the Waste Management Micro Entreprises Program which will be effectively monitored through a system.
FCC received the 40 tricycles as grant through Global Cities Fund by the Mayors Migration Council after Freetown was chosen as 1 of 5 cities from low-middle income countries.
The handing over of the tricycles was done at the Freetown City Council office by the Mayor of Freetown; Her Worship Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Project Coordinator; Mr. Augustine Kamara, Environmental Sanitation Officer; Mr. Mustapha Kemokai, Sanitation Chairman; Cllr. Abdul Karim Turay of ward 446, Chief Heat Officer; Mrs. Eugenia Kargbo, Project Adviser; Mr. Aruna Mans-Davies and other stakeholders.
“Freetown City Council is proud to announce that today, it is handing over 40 tricycles to youth groups to build on the gains made through the Waste Management Micro Entreprises Program.
In January this year, Freetown was chosen as 1 of 5 cities from low-middle income countries that have been granted the Global Cities Fund by the Mayors Migration Council.
The Global Cities Fund for Inclusive Pandemic Response is an initiative to respond to the unmet needs of cities as they support migrants, refugees, and internally displaced people during Covid-19 pandemic. In Freetown, the grant will provide direct financial and technical support over one year to help youth from informal communities set up 40 new waste collection businesses to provide this indispensable service to new households. 50% of the cost of the tricycle will be paid by the youth group as part of the loan repayment scheme and an osusu scheme will be created for the maintenance of the tricycles. The Program will also facilitate and mentor youth groups on business development.
This ambitious program directly contributes to our target to have at least 60% of solid waste collected and safely disposed of by 2022. More importantly, it helps us create jobs at a time when COVID-19 has presented unprecedented challenges for many young people that have migrated to Freetown from rural areas.
We will continue to work tirelessly to make Freetown a cleaner city, and to transform the lives of some of our most vulnerable residents!
#TransformFreetown” – Her Worship Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr wrote.
