Thiik Thiik Mayardit, Deputy Mayor of Juba. | Courtesy photo.

The Deputy Mayor of Juba City is appealing to the public to keep the capital clean and avoid random dumping of waste into the streets.

Juba Municipality residents have complained, in media reports, about poor waste management and accumulated rubbish along the streets – raising fears of possible outbreaks of diseases.

Some of them castigate the Juba City Council for allegedly failing to manage waste even after collecting waste management fees from shops.

However, Deputy Mayor Thiik Mayardit said the city residents are contributing to the poor waste management by littering the streets and refusing to pay garbage fees.

In a recorded statement published on the City Council Official Facebook page, Deputy Mayor Thiik urges Juba residents to desist from the practice of dropping garbage bags along roadsides.

“We don’t need anybody to bring the garbage to the roadsides. So we are informing the citizens please be aware that from today onward, nobody should bring the garbage along the road or to Medan Zara or any public place,” Thiik said.

Thiik also complained that residential areas are reluctant to pay for the garbage collection. He appealed to city residents to pay taxes to fund the cleaning initiatives.

“All the residential areas have not been paying the taxes, and now we are going to start it. Some of the blocks have already submitted their demand notes for the people to pay the taxes so that the garbage can be collected with this money.”

“And if you are not paying as residents, how will we take your garbage, because it is my advice that you give us the money and we take the garbage?”

A company contracted last year by the Council to tackle waste management, has now been dragged to court over borrowed money – leading to its suspension.

Last month, Mayor Michael Ladu Allah-Jabu said the disagreement between garbage-collection companies has affected hygiene and sanitation initiatives in the city.