By Ibrahim Joenal Sesay
FREETOWN, May 1st (232news.com) – The Freetown Waste Transformers (FWT) has commenced a two-days engagement of waste collectors at the New City Hall Building in Freetown on the use of tech-based approach in the collection of waste in the city.
The Chief Executive Officer & Founder of FWT, Aminata Dumbuya Jarr stated that they are mixed waste energy company that ensure that wastes are collected and transformed into something useful, especially electricity.
She disclosed that few months back they emerged as one of the winners of a grant through the GSME Innovation Fund which is funded by the FCDO and UK Aid, noting that out of 350 companies that applied for the grant, FWT was considered among 10 winners.
She stated that they are now into the process of making sure that the waste management sector in the country is digitalised, which she believes will be of help not only to waste collectors, citizens and the country as a whole based on the fact that the technology will be a useful approach.
She maintained that it is sufficient to develop the App and also cascade messages about the App to the public.
Maintaining that the engagement is the first that will lead to several other engagements as they progress, she said that with the App, they will be in a better position as a company to coordinate their activities by being in their office and know where certain wastes are coming from, the time it is collected, the type of waste among other things.
She furthered that for the youth groups who are the collectors of wastes, they will have access to useful information on where to collect wastes from, payments being made among other information.
In his remark, Project Coordinator Solid Waste Management Micro-Enterprise Program at the FCC, Augustine Kamara said that as a council they are happy and welcome the initiative of using technology to collect waste.
Kamara noted that the portal or the system will give them the advantage of knowing what exactly is happening on the field, noting that at the moment they are preview to information about the number of household and wastes collected, but that with the App, they will be a better position to verify all of that.
Calling on wate collectors to be attentive during the engagement, he stated that the initiative is one that will expose them to other possibilities and also noted that it will help them to generate resources.
The Chairman of Waste Collection Management Association, Abubakarr Sesay said that it is the first ever opportunity they have got in order to digitalise their waste collection activity.
Disclosing that they have up to Eight (8) blocks in Freetown in terms of their grouping in the collection of wastes in the city, he said that with the technology they will be able to track their operations from one block to the other.
Acknowledging that the engagement is one that will be fruitful, he said that a lot will be gained in terms of knowledge.
Referencing the period that they applied to work as waste management agents, he said that they have been exposed to lots of opportunities and that this one will not be the last.
He called on them to embrace every given opportunity.
