Juba surging under the weight of plastic waste

Just like almost every other Third World urban settlement, Juba has a legion problems revolving around environmental management.

However, the reckless disposal of plastic water bottles stands tall and is a real eyesore in this capital of the Government of Southern.
Juba is literally surging under the weight of plastic water bottles. Whether on the streets, the hotel environs or the banks of the mighty River Nile, it is plastic bottles carelessly strewn all over the place.

Not even the road leading to the Office of the President and all the government ministries have been spared. Interesting indeed, because whereas African politicians hardly care about the welfare of the majority, they invariably use their privileged positions to ensure they get the best in life.

‘Return of war’

The burning of heaps of the plastic containers by some traders and a handful others contracted to clean the streets in the morning, makes the situation look really ugly. Smoke emanating from the fires engulfs sections of roads making a first time visitor wonder whether to flee the ‘return of war’.

I was never here during Sudan’s civil war period between 1983 and 2005, but I can bet my last penny that this plastic water bottles menace is one of the negative impacts brought forth by the return to normalcy in South Sudan.

As an emergent market, Juba has almost unlimited opportunities and none with business acumen is willing to miss a piece of the pie.

Next door neighbours Kenya and Uganda have their national trooping to Juba in droves. The Chinese, Africa’s none pesky and thus now more favoured investment partners are in Juba. The tech-savvy Japanese are here too and so are the global big brother Americans. Britain, the former colonial master, is equally well represented.

Sudan, at least the northern part of it, sees itself as an Arab and Muslim state, and so the Arabs and the Muslims too are in Juba in good numbers for obvious reasons.

For most former Sudanese diaspora, both urban sophisticates and desperados, Juba is the starting point in the long resettlement programme.

Melting pot

Juba is a hot place with diurnal temperatures sometimes rising to 40 degrees Celsius. The consumption of water is thus naturally high. And with no trusted local sources, bottled water is the obvious option for the vast majority.

Indeed Juba, with a population of about 300,000, is one of the world’s fastest growing cities. It growth, in addition to being fuelled by Sudan’s vast pre-dollars and foreign investments, is attributed to the fact that it is a river port city.

The city is the southern terminus of the traffic along the Nile, better known as the Bahr al Jabal section of Africa’s longest river.

Juba International Airport is the site of a large number of flights bringing UN and NGOs staff to the entire Southern Sudan, making the city a real melting pot.
For its sustainable development, proper environmental management will surely need to be given some thought.

How I wish some entrepreneurs could grab the earliest opportunity to manage the disposal of Juba’s near innumerable plastic water containers; and in the process, mint billions!