Residents of Enugu have expressed deep concern over the poor sanitary conditions of some parts of the state. The situation becomes unbearable as refuse heaps are littered in unauthorized places. Also, rubbish dumps, hitherto located at strategic locations, are found to overflow with refuse, a development believed to pose health risks for the masses.
It is observed that, in many sections of the town, the rubbish dumps have not been evacuated for several weeks running.
For instance, residents of parts of Enugu metropolis like Ogui New Layout, Achara Layout, MaryLand, Garki, Emene, Isieke junction and Ugbene in Abakpa Nike area respectively complained to Insider Weekly that waste disposal officials of Enugu State Waste Management Agency (ESWAMA) had, for inexplicable reasons, not visited for refuse evacuation for weeks now.
The consensus is that all the environment-related agencies in the state, including ESWAMA, Enugu State Environmental Protection Agency (ENSEPA), Enugu State Ministry of Environment and, indeed, the government of Barrister Sullivan Iheanacho Chime have failed in the environmental sanitation of Enugu city.
Residents are, further, troubled over the stench that oozes out from the numerous abandoned refuse heaps across the capital city. The refuse heaps have, also, remained a breeding ground for mosquitoes which have greatly constituted a health hazard to the people.
Chuks Ugwoke, Commissioner for Information and Culture, said the state government was making arrangements with the management of ESWAMA for sustainable refuse disposal and urban waste management in the state. Ugwoke restated government’s determination and commitment to maintain a healthy and clean environment, as well as to ensure that the issue of waste disposal and management was taken care of and put to rest.
But long after this assurance, waste management in Enugu state, rather than improve, has degenerated to the lowest ebb, with the environment already feared to be contaminated and disease-borne.
Findings by Insider Weekly have shown that diarrhea (commonly called running stomach), especially, among the infant population, is on the increase in recent times. This is, often, accompanied by catarrh, cough, cold and fever. And some medical experts have attributed the outbreak of these diseases to the polluted air arising from waste mismanagement.
Law Egwu, Managing Director of ESWAMA attributed the awful sight of stench-oozing refuse heaps in all the nooks and crannies of Enugu metropolis to the break-down of waste disposal trucks and equipments belonging to the agency. Egwu was, late last year, appointed Managing Director to replace, Greg Anyaegbunam under whose administration Enugu became a clean and orderly city.
Aside from the claims of Egwu over break-down of equipments, there have been rumors of sabotage against the agency in the discharge of their waste disposal functions to the people of the state. The magazine was told that the waste disposal equipments of the agency were, following the sudden removal of Anyaegbunam, vandalized, and some of their operating parts taken away, a situation which has, till date, specifically, grounded the trucks.
But the question is: ‘How soon will this be?’
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