Waste mgt agency blames residents for indiscriminate refuse disposal
By TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
Fears of a possible outbreak of an epidemic have gripped residents of Osogbo, Osun State, over the refuse dumps that have become common sights on the streets of the state capital.
Our correspondent gathered that that these indiscriminate and illegal dumping of refuse is being perpetrated in some smaller communities in Osogbo due to the alleged inefficiency of the Osun Waste Management Agency and the dirty habit of the residents.
Before now, OWMA had declared a zero tolerance for filth across the state with the introduction and sustenance of bi-monthly environmental sanitation activities.
The agency also introduced and sustained environmental sanitation of markets and workplaces every Thursday of the week, which lasts till 10am. These developments were part of the efforts to salvage the state from environmental disaster, owing to heaps of refuse dumps that took over the state few years back.
But despite the agency’s acquisition of more refuse disposal vehicles during the administration of the immediate past governor Rauf Aregbesola, Osogbo is fast returning under plague of garbage and gradually becoming the filthiest state capital in of Nigeria, no thanks to the indiscriminate dumping of refuse by residents and negligence on the part of OWMA.
Even in the major areas of Osogbo, where OWMA used to be efficient, garbage dumps have sprung up on road medians, the road sides and canals.
OWMA’s modus operandi is to drive its refuse disposal vehicles to some spots, where residents have indiscriminately dumped waste and evacuate them. Most residents who could not afford to pay private waste collectors are in the habit of dumping refuse at certain spots for as long as three days before officials of OWMA would come around to pack them away. But the garbage often times overstretches and spills to the roads and canal before the waste agency arrives to evacuate it.
Despite warnings by OWMA against indiscriminate dumping of refuse, residents still engage in illegal assemblage of garbage. In fact, the agency recently arrested and prosecuted more than 60 persons caught dumping refuse indiscriminately in Osogbo.
While residents appear unrepentant in indiscriminate refuse dumping, OWMA is also culpable of negligence of duty and inefficiency. Our correspondent gathered from residents that officials of OWMA had not been consistent in evacuating refuse dumped across several designated spots.
A visit to Oke Baale area of Osogbo revealed that the residents risk an outbreak of diseases, owing to pockets of offensive refuse dumps littering the community. The garbage is not only fouling the atmosphere, it is also polluting water and contributing to disease outbreaks in the area.
At the frontage of Osogbo Local Government Secretariat, Oke Baale, is a horrible sight of a refuse dump. Along the Osogbo-Ibokun road, putrid odour oozes from refuse dumps.
Another offensive dump site is located beside St Andrew’s Government Middle School, Oke Baale, Osogbo. This refuse dump site is at the St Andrew’s junction and has even extended to the entrance of the school. This illegal garbage dump has taken over almost half of the school’s road. Drainage water and debris from waste have filled up the small bridge and grown into the dump by its side.
Pupils and teachers of the school carry on teaching and learning in the classrooms without seeming to notice their hazardous neighbourhood. Our correspondent could not speak with either a teacher or student of the school because the school is on vacation.
But a resident of the area who operates a kiosk, sighted close to the dumping site, Mr. Saheed Ojediran, called on government and the waste management agency to come to the rescue of the residents by evacuating the refuse without further delay.
Ojediran said none of the refuse disposal vehicles had visited the area to collect waste, warning that the residents were at a risk of cholera outbreak.
He said, “These waste collectors used to come here before to collect waste, but close to a month now, they have not been seen in this area. We have agreed with them to be dumping the refuse here while they come and remove them without delay. But since over 20 days now, we have not seen them and people have no option than to dump waste here (pointing to the refuse dump).”
On the cause of the delay in evacuating the refuse, Ojediran said officials of OWMA had deserted Oke Baale area ever since one of its refuse disposal vehicles allegedly crushed the leg of a trader at Shaasha area.
“Recently, a refuse disposal vehicle belonging to OWMA crushed the leg of a woman at Shaasha and some youths started chasing the vehicle. With the fear that he might be mobbed, the driver of the truck abandoned the vehicle and escaped. Since then, refuse dumps in the area have started increased. We want OWMA to come and remove this refuse because we can no longer cope with the stench,” he said.
Another resident of Osogbo, Miss Olaitan Idowu described the refuse dumps as hazardous to residents and an eyesore to passersby and motorists. Idowu, who lives beside a refuse dump at Orita Elelede in Osogbo, said aside from the foul smell, people in the area also regularly have malaria.
She also called on OWMA to remove the waste and save residents from more severe diseases.
Experts advise on the health hazards posed by refuse dumps
A medical practitioner, Dr. Costly Aderibigbe, has warned that residents may contract diseases from the stench oozing from refuse.
Aderibigbe, who spoke with our correspondent in Osogbo, warned that residents risked diseases like severe cholera and malaria, among other diseases, if they continued to live in dirty environment.
She therefore urged residents to live a healthy life by cleaning their environment and desisting from dumping refuse indiscriminately.
OWMA reacts
Meanwhile, OWMA General Manager, Femi Ogunbanwo, has blamed residents for dumping refuse indiscriminately and littering some parts of the state capital.
He stressed that residents had been warned on several occasions against indiscriminate refuse dumping.
Ogunbanwo added that many residents had been arrested and made to pay fine over indiscriminate dumping of refuse.
He said residents risked flooding if they failed to desist from dumping refuse on roads and water ways. He denied that officials of OWMA had abandoned some areas, saying, “There is no day we don’t go out to collect refuse.
“We usually ask residents to ensure that they wait for waste collectors and give their refuse to them rather than dropping them indiscriminately.”
The OWMA boss, therefore, called for the cooperation of residents and assured that heaps of refuse would be cleared from all parts of the state capital.
