Nema youths venture into recycling of plastic bags

A group of young people led by one Amadou Bah, 24, is helping the country to address its environmental challenges.

Speaking to this reporter, Bah said he graduated in 2009 from Nusrat Senior Secondary School, and went to Chamen Technical Training Institute to study electrical and electronics.

He later realised that plastic waste has been a major problem in the country, that if it is not properly managed it will continue to hinder the development of the country.

The knowledge seeking Bah decided to put his idea into practice by embarking on recycling plastic bags in 2011 into flower vase, pots and slopes at his place in NemaKunku.

“Some times slopes can be used when building roads,” he said, adding that he uses waste plastic bags and other raw materials to process it.

The young man noted that his objective is to have a plastic-free environment to achieve Vision 2020.

Bah said President Yahya Jammeh is calling on young people to meaningfully engage in lucrative venture.

However, he highlighted some of the effects of plastic bags, saying they fill in the drainages, and block the waterways thereby provide shelter for mosquitoes to breed, which eventually causes malaria, among others ailments.

He also called on people not to burn plastic bags, which “causes contamination of atmosphere, due to the release of poisonous chemicals”.

He further calls on the general public to always separate plastic waste from other waste products for recycling purposes.

“Currently we are twenty in number working hand in hand,” he said, adding; “We do not have money, we make efforts and use our skills and hands to do the job.”

He finally appealed to the government, NGOs, and the general public to aid their effort and initiative, saying him and his crew are optimistic that The Gambia “will one day be free from plastic waste”.