• Aba residents risk epidemic as heaps of decomposing waste take over streets
From Ogbonnaya Ndukwe, Aba
The environmental sanitation of Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, is nothing to write home about. Even animals would not be glad living in such filthy and disgusting place.
At the moment, there are fears of imminent epidemic, if nothing is done urgently to evacuate heaps of decaying refuse, along major roads and streets in the commercial city.
The waste dumps have become an eyesore. And they are blocking free flow of human and vehicular traffic. They have not been evacuated by the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA), in the past three months. This has left foul odour and stench in the city.
Our correspondent who went round saw overflowing refuse heaps, which people march on to their homes and business locations on major roads. The roads include Aba-Owerri, Asa, Ngwa, Azikiwe and Ikot Ekpene. Similar situation prevailed at market locations at Ariaria, Ekeoha Shopping Centre and Eziukwu-Cemetery among others.
It was gathered that ASEPA refused to evacuate the decomposing waste from their primary collection points along the streets, due to non-payment of salaries for several months. A source said workers were also demanding provision of refuse trucks and other equipment to aid their job.
He noted that ASEPA Aba office had only two trucks, and a few receptacle buckets to cover the entire city presently, a situation that was not acceptable: “The field workers have over the years been complaining and requesting for equipment to carry out the job. But the authorities kept promising without doing anything.”
At the agency’s office location, Ministry of Works Zonal office, on Ikot Ekpene Road, Aba, some workers were seen in groups chatting away their time. Various old refuse disposal vehicles, including caterpillars, pay loaders and trucks, littered the large compound. Officials declined to speak to our correspondent. They referred us to their headquarters in Umuahia, the state capital.
An environmental health expert, John Onwukwe, said continued failure to evacuate waste in the city could be disastrous, “as the spread of such epidemic diseases like cholera, measles and diarrhoea has been attributed to dirty environment.
“Environmental sanitation is a major sector in providing health services. Abandoning the evacuation of collated refuse and leaving them to decay in residential locations, is neither in the interest of government nor the people it works to protect.
“The ugly odour they exhume and the epidemic inherent, will expose the residents to various diseases such as malaria, typhoid, cholera, measles and diarrhoea.”
A nursing mother at Ngwa Road Market, Mrs Angela Udochukwu, said the stench from the decomposing refuse heap within the area, was very disturbing and might cause sickness among residents, especially children and the aged.
She appealed to ASEPA staff to see their duty as service to humanity and return to work. She called on government “to settle whatever is the rift with the workers, to make them recommence regular evacuation to stem the fear of being caught up with the epidemic inherent in not doing the needful.”
A resident of Umungasi, Aba-Owerri Road, Chief Andrew Nwankwo, said: “Many people may become sick if they (the authorities) continue to leave the heaps of refuse on the road.
“While we are forced to pay sanitation fees to ASEPA and their agents, they have a responsibility to evacuate refuse from the authorised primary dumpsites, so that we have clean environment and avoid epidemics that may come from dirty environment.”
Daily Sun could not get reactions from the agency and the Ministry of Environment because of the on going industrial action.