Talib Ahmed Bensouda, Mayor of Kanifing Municipal Council
By Buba Gagigo
The Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) officially launched its “Operation Sanity” campaign on Monday, targeting improved cleanliness and environmental health within the municipality. The initiative, which began in Old Jeshwang, focuses on enforcing municipal bylaws to ensure compliance with sanitation standards.
The operation involves four key units: municipal police, the anti-littering body, the cleansing service, and the community service. Together, they aim to enhance public awareness and accountability for maintaining a cleaner environment.
“Council came up with this initiative called Operation Sanity. Operation sanity defined itself. Sanity means ‘Seneyaa’ in Mandinka, so we are not there to harass anybody. We are there to enforce the bylaws that we are mandated.” explained Sainey Sanyang, Head of Operations. “So the operation will start at Old Jeshwang. It is designed in an operational plan by constituency. So at the end of the day, there are also twofold. The first week of operation, when we do that around Old Jeshwang constituency, the cleansing service will make a major follow-up after our operation. At the end of the day, we are going with our own collector that if anybody is found wanting according to the bylaw we will charge you from thousand dalasis upwards,” he added.
Mballit Manager Bakary B. Darboe clarified that the operation is not about demolishing shops but ensuring compliance with anti-littering laws.
“There’ll be no demolition exercise taking place. All we are going to carry out is sanity. We will ensure that the environment is clean. If you are a businessman and the front of your shop or any other area is dirty, all we are going to ask for you to do is to clean the place failure of which we are going to charge you according to the bylaw and the anti-littering regulations. So that’s what we are going to do today and the rest of the six months, this is what we are going to do,” he said.
The first day of the campaign saw several violations, with offenders paying fines without incident. Sanyang commended the residents of Old Jeshwang for their cooperation, describing the day as a success.
The six-month initiative aims to tackle issues such as illegal sewage dumping, littering, and improper disposal of hazardous waste across the Kanifing Municipality, fostering a cleaner and healthier community.