By Ragan M. Conteh

Residents in Freetown are calling on the central government and community stakeholders to review and remove the “Clean Salone” initiative from the city streets, citing growing concerns about its misuse and links to drug abuse among youth.

“Clean Salone” once a well-intentioned effort to engage unemployed youth in sanitation work — involves young people collecting and disposing of waste to keep the city clean. The initiative, also known as Operation Clean Freetown, has received support from government and NGO programs that provide equipment, training, and opportunities for youth to run small waste collection businesses.

However, what began as a program to promote cleanliness and youth empowerment has increasingly become a source of concern. Many residents report that some participants, especially those involved in drug use, have turned the initiative into a cover for antisocial behavior, including theft and the improper disposal of waste.

According to residents, while some “Clean Salone” workers genuinely try to earn a living, others use the work as a means to fund drug habits, particularly through the sale and consumption of Kush, the synthetic drug ravaging Sierra Leone’s youth. Money collected from households for waste disposal, they say, often ends up at drug-selling points instead of being reinvested into community cleaning.

In addition, there are complaints that waste collected by these groups is frequently dumped into open drainages, creating new environmental hazards and worsening the city’s sanitation problems.

“For many young people, this work was meant to be a lifeline,” one resident explained. “But our country is now facing an existential threat due to the devastating impact of drugs and substance abuse, particularly the synthetic drug kush. Instead of helping to clean the city, some of these youths are now contributing to the very problems the program was meant to solve.”

Residents are now urging authorities to reassess the “Clean Salone” model, introduce proper monitoring and regulation, and expand drug rehabilitation and youth employment programs that can offer sustainable alternatives.