The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Safro Ltd. Gambia–a water treatment company in Bakau–Mr. Ebrima Rowland, has said he established the company to exclusively, provide sophisticated water treatment systems that have the capabilities of treating water into three stages: keeping the water pure and natural, and in the safest state for drinking.
“Clean water should not be a privilege,” he told Mansa Banko Online newspaper during a recent exclusive interview. According to him, of late, people have been struggling to get clean and (safe) drinking water that promotes human health and good taste, claiming that they are here to serve everyone in the Gambia; and their objective is to go continental in the future.
The company, established months ago, is already aiming high to reach other shores in Africa. The Safro chief disclosed that at the moment, the company has some under-sink water filters and bottleless water dispensers. Rowland said they are anti-plastic as all of their products are plastic-free. The Gambia has anti-littering and other environmental laws but enforcement becomes a challenge in most instances.
The ultra-filtration, he explained, occurs in different stages using the under-sink that purifies water taps for their clients as well as supply them with bottleless dispensers. Rowland indicated that by 2050, plastic materials are expected to outnumber the “fishes in the world’s oceans”.
While noting people might not know or feel the pinch right now, but Rowland believes these are realities that would dawn on people and Gambians are not excluded from it.
His words: “I was doubtful of these things, but after a little bit of research and consultations, I realized that the more we dump plastic, the more we eat plastic; because it goes to ocean and got consumed by fishes and we finally consume these fishes too. And, we use billions of dollars to produce these plastics; the opportunity cost could have been used in other areas.”
Using the highly sophisticated under-sink water filters and dispenser systems that purify water to global standards, Rowland pointed out, would also minimize the rampant and indiscriminate dumping of plastic bottles which continue to threaten environment across the Gambia, despite the numerous laws enacted to protect the environment and people’s wellbeing.
Re-echoing there’s indiscriminate dumping of plastic waste in the Gambia, the Safro Company boss said, “little or nothing is done on the recycling aspect”. He argued even in the most advanced countries like United States of America (USA), only 18 percent of plastic waste is recycled in a year.
However, in his opinion, little blame should be directed at the masses, and his reason is that “there are no trash bins placed in strategic locations” where people could easily dump their plastic wastes. He suggested Gambians should emulate countries like Rwanda.
The Safro Ltd. CEO reported that, in every ten seconds, a child dies from lack of clean water around the globe, whilst in Africa, over three hundred million people are living without clean drinking water. And the head of the Bakau-situated water company told this medium this is the very problem that his company is trying to eliminate.
For a background information, Rowland finished his secondary education at Marina International School in Fajara. He’s hoping to graduate soon, with a Degree in Economics and Financing from the University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus in China.
