RESIDENTS DECRY POOR WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ENUGU
REPORTER: CHRISTIAN NWANGENE
The practice of open burning of trash in dumpsters in most areas in Enugu metropolis is almost becoming a culture.
Often, the identities of those who set fire on the rubbish are not known, and the resultant smoke creates pollution known to be dangerous to human health and contaminates the air, water, and the environment generally.
Some years back, collection and evacuation of rubbish were better organized and more professional, though not perfect as many residents told Radio Nigeria that it was better than the current situation where wastes are burnt in the dumpsters or left to pile up in some strategic locations, and sometimes flow into the gutters with offensive odor, a development they described as worrisome.
Between 2009 and 2015, Enugu metropolis experienced some measures of cleanliness.
The trash were evacuated regularly, mostly with compactors making it faster and easier for both the residents and the waste managers
Most visitors to the Enugu capital city from other states admired the neatness of the city with great excitement, but recently, mounts of uncollected wastes, often with billowing smokes on them in almost all parts of the Coal City is gradually wiping away the pleasant memories.
More disturbing is that even when the wastes are being evacuated, the open rickety trucks that convey them to landfills with the labourers, who pack the rubbish with bare hands, go on to litter the streets creating a generally untidy environment.
A cross section of residents of Enugu metropolis interviewed by Radio Nigeria said they were alarmed by the development.
Though some respondents could not confirm to Radio Nigeria those responsible for setting fire on the trash, others alleged that it could be those who put sticks of unfinished cigarettes or those who pour ashes they packed from their homes into the cans.
On different occasions, Enugu State Waste Management Authority (ESWAMA) had denied knowledge of the development.
Another respondent and motor parts dealer, who has a shop close to one of the dumpsters, said he took milk regularly as a measure to reduce the impact of the smoke on his lungs.
“In every evening, I normally take milk because of my health and sometimes, I don’t normally stay in the shop because of dustbin, when I open my shop I will go extreme two poles because of the dustbin,” he narrated unhappily.
A medical expert and Chairman, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) Enugu Branch, Dr. Ejiofor Mamah, said continued exposure to emissions from burning open waste was injurious to human health and could trigger a series of health challenges, including acute and chronic respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
“Once you start perceiving any odor apart from that natural content of air, it’s injurious.
“The essence of taking this fresh air is to get oxygen, but a situation where the atmosphere is contaminated with other things, it’s no longer oxygen, you’re taking poison and it’s not good for health and that’s why you see a lot of people having one lung problem or the other just because the environment they’re living in is not hygienic.
“We really have to imbibe the culture of keeping our environment very clean.”
“It’s an eye sour when you go along the streets you see a lot of wastes for about 2-3 weeks nobody has come to evacuate it,” he stated with dismay.
Dr. Mamah, advocated improved waste-segregation practices at the source and waste-collection systems to mitigate the pollution source and its effects.
“Appropriate disposal of wastes is very, very important.
“Apart from burning the wastes, you will be passing through this ESWAMA dump and you will find out that the odour that will be exhuming from that place, you have to cover your nose, and worst of it is this traffic on the road, sometimes you will be held in that traffic you won’t have any option that to inhale it.
“The appropriate authority that’s associated with taking off these wastes from the streets must come up on time, they shouldn’t allow it to stay more than twenty-four hours, that’s the standard,” Dr. Mamah remarked.
According to the respondents, burning of waste is primitive and does not align with the modern society.
They advised Enugu State Government to adopt modern technologies to dispose rubbish, instead of exposing the health of its citizens to prevailing harmful waste management.