Environment
STAKEHOLDERS in the South – East have identified indiscriminate dumping of refuse and poor implementation of waste disposal policies as major challenges facing environmental cleanliness in the zone.
Some of the stakeholders, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) also said that lack of funds and bad attitude by residents also contributed to a dirty environment.
The Managing Director, Anambra State Clear Drainage and Forest Preservation Agency, Mr Chido Obidiegwu lamented that some residents still used drainages as a waste bin.
Obidiegwu noted that flooding and erosion would not be much of a challenge to the state if people adopted the right attitude to waste disposal.
He condemned the act of dumping and burning waste inside drainages while urging those involved to refrain from such act as anyone caught would face punishment under the law.
Dr Olisaeloka Lotenna, a public health physician at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, said indiscriminate disposal of waste constituted environmental nuisance and pollution in the society.
Lotenna said the action overwhelmed dumpsites, clogged drainage channels, encouraged the breeding of mosquitoes and worsened the spread of diseases.
The Managing Director of Anambra State Waste Management Agency, Mr Amechi Akorah said indiscriminate dumping of refuse was the major challenge faced by the agency.
According to Akorah, the attitude of residents towards waste disposal was still very poor.
“People are still used to the village life where you fling your waste into the nearest bush or forest.
“But, now the ethics of city living, especially as everywhere in Anambra is growing into a suburban environment, requires proper waste disposal,” he said.
On recycling, Akorah said the state government was in partnership with about five different companies interested in recycling the solid waste in form of paper, cardboard, plastic, metal, food, vegetables and other materials.
Highlighting the efforts of the state government towards waste disposal and management, Akorah said the government had procured modern solid waste handling and evacuation equipment.
“They include motorized bins, plastic receptacles, waste bags and other waste evacuation materials, to ensure proper disposal of refuse in major commercial centers in Nnewi, Awka, and Onitsha.
“The government also created new dump sites and bought vehicles to convey over 150 roadside sweepers from one point of duty to another, to clean major roads, streets and gutters.
“Cleanup exercise is also observed every last Saturday of the month and public enlightenment on the need for a cleaner environment is often done in collaboration with the state’s Ministry of the Environment and Information,” he said.
In Imo, the General Manager of Environmental Transformation Agency, Mr Macdonald Ebere, said the government under the administration of Gov. Hope Uzodinma had standardized waste management and disposal policy in the state.
Ebere said the government introduced door-to-door waste disposal, where environment officials were expected to go to various houses and streets to evacuate waste.
He said there was an ongoing plan for the government to build a world-class recycling plant where all the waste would be converted for use.
An official of Imo State Waste Management Agency, Mr Henry Osuji, said the government had also introduced compulsory waste buckets for commercial vehicles.
Osuji said the idea was to check indiscriminate waste disposal by commercial drivers or passengers.
He said violators of the compulsory waste buckets in commercial vehicles were made to pay fines to the government if arrested.
Osuji said logistics and operational vehicles were some of the challenges militating against the smooth operation of door-to-door waste management.
He said in spite of the public awareness on the door- to door- arrangement, people still disposed of waste indiscriminately, while others defaulted on payment for the services.
Osuji said that due to the door-to-door waste management, the government canceled the monthly general environmental sanitation exercise.
A director in the Ministry of Environment, Dr Ken Isinguzo confirmed to NAN that government had instituted a waste management system in various local governments of the state.
“We have designated points in various LGAs where wastes are disposed and government officials go to evacuate them regularly,” Isinguzo said.
Speaking on compliance with waste management laws, an NGO in Imo, Health Is Life Foundation, decried poor compliance with environmental laws in the state.
The founder of the NGO, Mr Peter Madugba, said in spite of laws to check indiscriminate waste disposal, residents were still disposing of waste indiscriminately on daily basis.
Madugba said he had a bill pending at the Imo House of Assembly on ways to check indiscriminate waste disposal, since 2011, which he sadly noted, had not passed second reading.
An environmentalist and owner of GG Waste Management Company, Mr Fan Isikaku, said poor waste disposal could lead to an outbreak of an unusual epidemic in any state.
A street sweeper at Nekede, Mrs Felicia Anozie commended the government for introducing door-to-door waste management, but, expressed worry that people were yet to comply with the rule.
In Ebonyi, the state government said it would permanently overcome the state’s waste disposal challenges in 2021 with the take-off of its multi-million Naira waste pulverization plant.
Chief Jonah Egba, Commissioner for Environment, said government entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with a foreign firm in 2020, expected to commence operations at the facility in 2021.
Chief James Akpoke, a businessman in Abakaliki urged the government not to wait for the plant’s take-off before improving on its waste disposal mechanisms.
“The government should be commended firstly for paying much attention to environmental cleanliness as the state is experiencing its best environmental condition since its creation.
“The waste disposal authorities should, however, redouble its efforts because dirt and heaps of refuse are gradually returning to areas hitherto evacuated,” Akpoke said.
Mrs Ngozi Awoh, a street cleaner, urged residents to obey the state government’s directive on waste disposal to make her tasks easier and more effective.
“Most residents still dump refuse indiscriminately and at points not designated for waste disposal,” Awoh noted.
In Aba, Abia State, Mr Nelson Nwafor, Executive Director, Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy and Development, urged the government to redouble its efforts towards proper refuse management to make the state clean.
Nwafor alleged that Abia government had evaded the responsibility of providing refuse management infrastructure and this encouraged indiscriminate refuse dumping on the streets and be in drainages.
“We said that government should be committed to refuse management and disposal because the government has not done enough to keep Aba and Abia clean.
“We do not have enough refuse receptacles for the teeming population of Aba.
“We are supposed to have many on every street but you have thousands of people sharing one receptacle from very long distances; this is discouraging for residents.
“Refuse accumulates at a collection point and it may take up to a week for Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) to clear the refuse.
“Again, how can you place a refuse disposal point at the middle of a major road like Azikiwe by Asa Road where people come to dump refuse and cause traffic jams and litter the roads,’’ he wondered.
Nwafor said that residents could be made sanitation conscious and encouraged to keep their environment and communities clean through environmental education.
Emmanuel Ifeanyi, another Aba resident said Abia had a serious problem with refuse management because both the government and residents had developed an unfavorable attitude towards refuse management.
“If the government can play its role well, careless residents will leave the government with no choice than to make money from them through monetary penalties.
“If you come to Aba metropolis, receptacles are very few. Check from Number 1, Azikiwe Road to the end, you do not have any receptacles, and this is one of the longest roads in Aba.
“You have one at Jubilee Road by Asa and the one at Park which they have removed now.
“There is only one that stands between Asa/Port Harcourt Road and Aba Main Park.
“With these few refuse buckets, how can a city like Aba where almost all parts of the city are markets and production centers cope with the management of their waste,’’ Ifeanyi queried.
He recommended that ASEPA be placing buckets at the entrance of all buildings in the city and clearing the refuse content every two days.
In Enugu State, the state Coordinator of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Mr Egbagiri Pele said the government delineated roles among the three levels of government for effective management of waste.
Pele said that the waste handling and management role was given to local government authorities.
The coordinator explained that there were numerous challenges affecting waste disposal and management which ranged from lack of funds, technology, to lack of awareness.
A sweeper with the Enugu Clean Team, Miss Chinasa Okonkwo, said activities of the team had immensely promoted environmental hygiene in the metropolis through daily sweeping and clearing of bushes in the city.
Okonkwo appealed to Enugu State Waste Management Authority to always evacuate waste generated during its sweeping exercise and environmental cleanup days, as failure to do so might render its work ineffective.
Another sweeper, Mr.John Agbo, complained that the lack of waste dumpsters at strategic places within the state capital was making their work difficult as residents usually dumped their waste inside the drainages or litter it across the streets. (NAN)
-Feb, 17, 2021 10:09 AM
Tags: Dirty environment: Stakeholders in Nigeria’s South-East blame policy implementation indiscriminate waste disposal
