Waste management has been a challenge in the Freetown municipality of Sierra Leone for a long time, underpinned by the limited capacity of institutions responsible for waste collection and depositing. These challenges come with a huge cost to human health. The situation is even worse for people living in informal settlements within and on the fringes on the city. The lack of a well-planned and regulated waste management system in the informal settlements is a key driver of indiscriminate waste dumping. Waste dumping by communities, mostly in waterways, drainages and under footbridges, are invariably linked to health challenges for informal communities and built-up settlements located alongside those communities.

The quality of waste management services is a good indicator of a city’s governance. The way in which waste is produced and discarded gives us a key insight into how people live. In fact if a city is dirty, the local administration may be considered ineffective or its residents may be accused of littering. For instance, according to studies, it was noted that for years, the major problem in Sierra Leone (especially in communities by dump disposal sites) was the accumulation of tens of thousands of tons of organic wastes; the cholera outbreak in Freetown years ago is another good example of a city which suffered due to the callous attitude of the local body in maintaining cleanliness in the city. 

Issues of attitudes and perceptions in solid waste management system which include education of household to clean their surroundings, people’s opinion on the responsibilities of ensuring clean surroundings, disposal of household waste, children’s involvement in solid waste management and acceptance of user fee system appear to affect both inhabitants and authorities regarding solid waste management in Freetown.

Majority of the people do not care to educate their households on making the surroundings clean. This has an implication that could affect the society. This effect will be translated into acceptable behaviour in relation to solid waste management. For instance, children will not develop the right attitudes and perceptions for sanitation at an early stage in life. This is likely to impact negatively on how the present and next generation would handle sanitation in general and solid waste in particular. 

This article therefore provides an insight into the current state of waste management challenges in informal settlements. It provide the following priority actions:

•Establish, or empower community led actions for managing wastes through community by-laws and restrictions against unlawful disposal of waste.

•Undertake government-led training of community members on innovative use of waste through recycling and composting as means of employment and reduction of waste piles.

•Increase awareness in communities about the current state of waste disposal and effects on health problems like malaria which relates to frequent mosquito breeding.

•Enhance collaboration between communities and waste management companies to ensure that waste generated within communities are collected promptly for depositing at dumpsites; this could include discussions around pricing and schedules for collection.

•Promotion of community planning to ensure sustainable land use for purposes like proper waste management.