By Kaddy Danso &
Ida Cham
School teachers and students of Old Yundum Upper and Senior Secondary Schools had cried out to the government through the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to help relocate a nearby dumpsite at the school environment to another location because of the smell.
obnoxious smells from this dumpsite is causing nothing but environmental nuisance and makes students and teachers found it difficult and uncomfortable to concentrate throughout in the class and school environment.
Sainey F Manneh, a senior teacher said: “the government should try and relocate the dumpsite, because the site generates very bad smell.”
He explained that students always feel discomfort, make noise, and to maintain order in the class especially when exuding from the site continuously it will take some minutes. “I, like others are allergic to bad odor and dust,” he added.
According to him, the school was closed for more than two weeks in 2020 due to the constant odor exuding from the dumpsite, noting “and most of the students affected by the odor are 9A, 9B and 9C because they are closer to the market.”
Maharabi Marena, a student of the school lamented about the odor coming from the dumpsite saying it is disrupting their learning.
“The odor affects us a lot especially during rainy season, the noise and the smell from the market distract both students and teachers that no one can concentrate during learning hours. This is because whenever the odor started, learning has to stop for sometimes and that really affect our education. We are appealing to the government to relocate the dumpsite and ban the community from dumping around the school,” he said.
Landing Manneh, a teacher also said: “the Brikama Area Council should help us and either relocates or close the dumpsite for the health of both students and teachers.”
Ganie Jeng, who oversees the Senior Secondary School, urged the government to help shutdown the dumpsite, adding “we are planning to take a rigid action on this matter to either stop it or we stop teaching.”
“The bad odor disturbs us a lot and it is not good for the health of students and teachers, because dumping rubbish in the environment is not hygienic. There should be a specific place where wastes can be dumped,” Fatou P Njie, a student said.
Fansu Bojang, caretaker of the dumpsite said they cannot control the odor because it is cause by the stagnant fish water from the vendors.
He said: “Whenever there is fish water that place must smell and even if they relocate the dumpsite it will affect people living around that end too, I believe that the best solution is the community of coastal road to come out and do cleaning exercise because the odor is not only coming from the dumping but the street as well.”
“If this odor is to damage my health just know that thousands of people will die because I am not living around this end I only come for work and most of them are breathing from this air both day and night,” he added.