The National Vice President of the Liberia Marketing Association (LMA) Abraham Barchue, Sr. says the LMA is very much interested in the development and promotion of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs, especially, solid Waste management in the country.
He said LMA’s sanitation and hygiene including solid waste programs cover nationwide because the various market grounds must be WASH friendly. And so we attached great importance to the cleanness of our markets.
“Besides the marketers, government officials, international guests and foreign diplomats are either visiting or buying from our market grounds”, he notes.
According to the WASH Media Network, Mr. Barchue spoke recently in an exclusive interview at the LMA Headquarters on U.N. Drive in Monrovia.
He said anything unhygienic that occurs in the market has the propensity to spread like a wildfire, and so the LMA management is committed to ensuring various market places are kept cleaned all times.
“This is so because food contamination is very dangerous and it could sweep out a whole population just from a single market place not being cleaned and hygienic”, he added.
However, Mr. Barchue lamented that the LMA finds itself between the scissors because nearly all of its major market grounds are within densely populated communities and are being misused as dumpsites by residents and marketers themselves.
He conceded that solid waste stockpiled or littering on market grounds in Montserrado County and parts adjacent are the creations of both marketers and nearby communities.
Mr. Barchue disclosed the LMA has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Monrovia City Corporation and the Paynesville City Corporation to help remove stockpiled of solid waste from the market grounds to keep the market places cleaned and hygiene-friendly.
“We are saddened that during that one year crisis period LMA was unable to remit anything to the MCC neither PCC. But this is an understandable fact that LMA was not operating at its full strength. So now that the LMA leadership is back, we in management do believe that we will make good our MOU promises made to MCC and PCC to buttress their tedious but laudable efforts of keeping our markets and cities cleaned and hygiene-friendly,” quips VP Barchue. LMA National Headquarters on U.N. Drive in Monrovia
