On the sidelines of the One Forest Summit in Libreville, Gabon and France signed an agreement on Wednesday March 1 to rehabilitate the Mindoubé public dump. Now located in the heart of the city, the place has become an environmental chaos, a major source of air and environmental pollution in the heart of the capital.
With our correspondent in Libreville, Yves-Laurent Goma
Sitting in front of the courtyard of her house located on the side of Mindoubé public dump, Marie Mbeng is happy to learn that the landfill could be closed in a few months, while Gabon and France agreed on March 1 to rehabilitate it. ” I’m happy because it pollutes the air. Smells really make us sick “, she confides.
The news delights his neighbors who are drinking beer in a bar. One of them says: This is a good thing. We will breathe clean air. Another is still waiting for the project to really materialize: “ If that’s true, I agree. »
However, this landfill is a source of income for many families who have become accustomed to resell spare parts and other recovered materials on the landfill. ” We are not happy. This is where we earn our living and feed our children and our families. How are we going to live? “, laments a Libreville resident. Same spite for another Gabonese: “ This is where I live, where I raise my children. I have no husband, no job. If they close the dump, where am I going to live? »
High Commissioner for the Environment and Quality of Life, Yannick Sonnet explains the current project with France: ” We go through a study. All studies have been completed. We must now move on to its implementation, to ensure that the landfill does not continue to pollute and to redevelop it as a sort of park. »
It will take 30 million euros to rehabilitate this landfill. Another, to international standard, will be opened in Nkotang, 30 kilometers from the capital.
#OneForestSummit |14 hectares of waste piled up to 60m high: I visited the Mindoubé landfill.
Health security, toxic fumes, air and water pollution, destruction of the mangrove: this situation creates risks for populations and the environment. pic.twitter.com/o6uLkzxE8B
— Christophe Bechu (@ChristopheBechu) March 1, 2023