As part of efforts to transform Paynesville into a smart city through enhanced digitalization programs, the Paynesville City Corporation has removed at least 29,791.31 percent tons of waste, according to Mayor Robert S. Bestman.
The stockpile of garbage in the city and its surroundings has been cleared out over eight months.
Delivering his annual report highlighting challenges and progress for the year under review, April - December 2024, Mayor Bestman said the PCC sanitation team had cleared a little over 29,000 tons of garbage as part of vigorous cleaning-up operations in the city.
He says Goba-Chop stockpile dirt, LBS- ELWA Junction Community waste, FDA Junction garbage, Jacob Town Football Field Pollution, Watch-Towel waste, Police Academy dumpile and the commercial hub of Red Light main streets, among others, have been all cleared.
According to him, to achieve this, his team launched a serious attack on Whein Town Landfill, Monrovia's largest and only Landfill, which was gutted by fire, to get it ready for disposal of waste.
"In our efforts to clear out the garbage, we launched a very serious attack on the Whein Town Landfill, which took thousands of dollars to get the fire off before we could start lifting garbage at that site, and we are proud to disclose that we have cleared out, over 29,791.31% tonnage of waste out of Paynesville", Mayor Bestman reports.
Paynesville- suburb East Monrovia, a large city comprised of 26 communities, including SKD Boulevard, AB Tolbert Road, ELWA, Parker Paint, Stephen Tolbert Estates, GSA Road, and FDA Community, among others with over 700,000 inhabitants, and five electoral Districts: 2,3,4,5 &6, has been mostly covered entirely by huge wastes.
Over the years, the City has been flooded by waste, including pollution of plastics, cans, bottles, used clothing, and other trash, making sanitation work difficult.
Mayor Bestman emphasized progress with the robust removal of garbage but stressed that a lot of work needed to be done.
The PCC Mayor also stresses the goal of making Paynesville a smart City, emphasizing enhanced digitalization programs and technology worldwide.
"I would like to inform you that the Paynesville City Corporation, we are gradually trying to move our city into where the world is driven: the Smart City for all citizens of Paynesville," he says.
"We started now to ultimate a digital system in our human resource and finance departments; by next year January, we will have digitalized our departments effectively; our Revenue and Finance Team can now sit in their offices and collect revenue with automated business registration," he further discloses.
He says beginning next year, PCC Financial Agents will be working in the field with Tablets, and registering Businesses, which will be immediately automated in a few minutes after they are registered through a modernized digitalized system.
Meanwhile, the PCC Mayor stresses the dire financial needs of the city while pleading for more budgetary allocation to support the town, which has been challenged with a limited workforce, lack of equipment, and other logistical support hindering its effective operation. Editing by Jonathan Browne