Canna lilies on South Beach

Canna Lilies against the backdrop of South Beach. As stunning as the beach and its ocean line is, it is totally trashed. Who knows what kind of waste is pouring into the sea. Monrovia's city corporation needs to keep the city green and clean and find 'partners' (because the post-war Liberian state is all about partners) to build sewage treatment plants and recycling plants. Plastic should be banned. Growth and development should no longer come at the expense of the environment.

I posted the above on my Facebook and it mainly prompted reactions that criticise "communities." They just don't want to throw rubbish in the bins provided by the city administration. They don't want to clean up. 

Of course, most of these reactions are from friends who work in international development. 

My anger at seeing pollution, lack of recycling and treatment plants/structures, obvious lack of policy and vision, and the absence of genuine sense of keeping a green and beautiful capital city is all aimed at authorities, powers that be. I don't blame the common person for not having an environmental consciousness. 

Firstly, I guess that the average person in Monrovia is used to poor infrastructure and overflowing dumpsters, trash openly piling up around "communities," clogged gutters, etc. Moreover, many folks have grown up in post war Liberia where the state is still being made. 

There are crumbling buildings next to modern, new buildings, sometimes still full of squatters - in Monrovia, the capital city. 

Electricity and running water is still not available to everyone, even in Greater Monrovia. Petty crime, armed robberies and sexual crime is common, not always fully investigated/prosecuted/punished because of limits of the Police and lack of political will. 

That Monrovia is not spotless and, beaches and swamps are polluted is not the average person's fault. 

Are there are any sewage treatment plants? Has the state asked for technical and material assistance in the form of large-scale recycling programmes? What is the long-term policy and vision?