The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Freetown City Council (FCC) have agreed to form a joint enforcement partnership aimed at tackling illegal dumping, lawlessness and sanitation-related indiscipline in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown.

The agreement was reached during a high-level meeting at the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ conference room in Freetown, bringing together officials from the ministry, the FCC and the Sierra Leone Police (SLP).

The meeting focused on operationalising newly drafted FCC sanitation bye-laws and strengthening coordinated law enforcement to restore order and cleanliness in the city.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the collaboration will be implemented through a task force comprising the FCC and the SLP, with support from the ministry, to enforce sanitation regulations targeting unlawful waste disposal and general municipal indiscipline.

Related News

The initiative also seeks to introduce a more structured waste management system, requiring households, businesses and institutions to register with and pay designated waste collection service providers approved by the FCC.

Speaking at the meeting, the Minister of Internal Affairs, AIG (Rtd.) Morie Lengor Esq., said the engagement followed official correspondence to the Inspector General of Police, William Fayia Sellu, on revitalising the joint FCC-SLP committee to address emerging municipal challenges.

He welcomed the partnership and expressed concern over the growing problem of lawlessness and indiscriminate waste disposal in Freetown. The minister described the situation as an eyesore and a worrying development that demands “robust and actionable solutions” to restore sanity in the city.

He further emphasised that waste collection would be reorganised by city blocks as part of a broader restructuring of waste management services, to improve enforcement, monitoring and accountability.

FCC Chief Administrator, Mr. Raman Tom Farmar, commended the minister’s leadership in launching what he described as a robust national campaign to address lawlessness and public safety. He thanked the ministry for its continued collaboration with the FCC in efforts to restore order in the city. Farmar acknowledged existing challenges with waste service providers within the municipality but assured that the council remains committed to improving service delivery.

He added that the FCC plans to embark on an extensive public education campaign and is seeking the ministry’s intervention to support implementation of the new sanitation bye-laws. He noted that the council cannot address sanitation challenges alone without strong inter-agency coordination and cooperation.

Presenting the draft sanitation bye-law strategy, the FCC Environmental and Sanitation Officer, Madam Marian J. Tucker, disclosed that Freetown will be divided into eight blocks, each further subdivided into zones, to enhance waste service delivery and oversight.

She outlined provisions within the bye-laws covering waste service provider regulation, provider branding and identification, digital registration platforms and payment systems, among other measures designed to improve efficiency and accountability.

The meeting concluded with recommendations for intensified public sensitisation through radio discussions and community engagement to educate residents on the new system and encourage compliance, particularly in registering for household waste collection services.

It was also agreed that community stakeholders would be engaged to reinforce awareness at grassroots level, a police prosecutor would be assigned to work with the FCC on prosecuting offenders, and the council would finalise its bye-laws for enforcement by police prosecutors. A follow-up meeting of the Task Force Committee on Lawlessness and Indiscipline is expected to be convened to advance implementation plans.