Juba International Airport, the welcoming point to South Sudan, will likely suffer severe charges from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry for its waste management.
Joseph Africano, the undersecretary of the environment ministry, said the filthiness and waste at the airport tarnish the country’s image, and the airport officials don’t consider managing their waste.
“One thing that you (Cleaners) had realized when we came here, the whole place is dirty, and most of these people here are making millions of dollars, and they don’t care about their environment; I was screaming to them ‘please this is your place, we are not here to come and clean your place, come, and work with us,” Africano said
He said Juba International Airport is supposed to be like other international airports where the beauty at the airport welcomes you to the city which he claimed not happening in South Sudan.
“Usually, when you come in here (at JIA), the first thing you see is waste, but when you travel abroad to any International Airport, the first thing you see is greenery, clean, and it welcomes you to the city.” He stated
“So that simply means when you start with this one (JIA) so filthy and dirty, what do you expect inside (the city)?” Africano asked?
According to the undersecretary, the city council is supposed to ensure that the officials at the airport and the public comply in managing their waste but says if the commission is relaxed, the ministry in its compliance unit will take charge in making sure they comply or else face charges.
“If the city council is not going to make people comply with waste management, we will take part in that. We will go out and find people, and if we warn them and they don’t clean in seven days, they pay because we cannot have an airport (dirty like this).” He cautioned
Africano calls on the public to imitate and take the example of the Rwandan capital Kigali, the cleanest city in Africa, citing it’s a matter of taking the responsibility as a citizen to keep your city clean.
“Why should Rwanda be the cleanest city in Africa? How did they do it?” He asked . “There is nothing that Rwandans have so special as us. It’s just a matter of us taking responsibility to clean our city and home.” Africano said
On Tuesday, the ministry of environment and other environment management organizations started a weekly cleaning campaign at Juba International Airport.