Fresh air is a major component of the environment which is very crucial for the health of every individual. However, this essential commodity is not readily available to many residents of Mpape. The community has witnessed a rising level of poor disposal of wastes.

The mandate

The Federal Capital Development Authority established the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), as a sole regulatory agency on environmental protection in the Federal Capital Territory.

The agency is backed by the AEPB Act 10 of 1997, with its kernel goal to secure the quality of environment suitable for the safety of the masses within its territory, and to create public awareness on personal and environmental hygiene.

Based on this mandate, the AEPB is expected to deploy garbage collectors to every nook and cranny of the city, to ensure cleanliness of the environment To ease the process, waste bins were made available to residents and on specific days assigned to each location in a week, the collectors stop by each building to collect wastes accumulated over the period.

However, residents of Mpape, are angry that the AEPB has not lived up to its responsibility of ensuring a healthy environment in their community despite its proximity to the city ‘centre Inside Abuja checks revealed that due to the high fee attached to the weekly collection of waste by the AEPB running into thousands of naira per month, most residents have opted out of the service.

They have rather resorted to personal disposal of their wastes through the use of local waste collectors commonly referred to as ‘Mai Bola’, or ‘Baban Bola.’ These refuse collector’s charge a small token usually between N500 to N1000 depending on the quantity of the waste.

Refuse mountain

Residents of Mpape who spoke to INSIDE ABUJA, however revealed that the AEPB had never extended such services to the area. Unlike other places where most residents engage the services of local waste collectors, majority of Mpape residents prefer to dispose waste themselves by dumping them in free spaces around their environment.

The resultant effect are heaps of refuse dumped at strategic locations including Eneje Street, opposite one of the first generation commercial banks. This unhealthy practice is jeopardizing the health of people residing in not only the immediate environment but in Mpape as a whole.

One of the residents, Yusuf Mustapha, who stressed on the health risks of the refuse dumps, appealed to the AEPB to assign waste collectors to the area and ensure strict adherence to their mandate.

“AEPB cleaning contractors should be assigned to Mpape to scoop the dumped refuse that pollute the air we breath and beget sickness for we and our families.

“Undoubtedly, collectors may have been assigned to Mpape for the mentioned reason but did not carry out the task. Therefore, it is not enough to allocate duties but supervisors should be allotted to the cleaning contractors and the districts they cover.

This will help keep them on their duty posts,” he said. A resident who declined to be mentioned in print noted that the refuse has been there for years but AEPB has done nothing about it.

Epidemic threats

With the threat of diseases and infections such as Lassa Fever, which is fuelled by a dirty environment, hanging in the air, a worried Jessica Akogu, urged residents to seek more appropriate means of disposing their refuse rather than exposing themselves to the dangers of continued unhealthy practices.

“Landfill pit should be dug in Mpape where people can dispose waste products to be collected thereafter. This will help to stop people from littering the environment.

Also, a sanitization campaign should be carried out to encourage Mpape residents to discard refuse properly to preventing scavengers and rodents from scattering and littering the environment and or take such waste to the closest collection points which is yet to be provided,” she said.

On his part, Isaac Seriki lamented government’s poor attitude towards elevating the living condition of people residing within Mpape. “A blind eye has been turned on we the residents; all you see are dilapidated roads, unstable power supply and a dirty environment.

“AEPB is showing lackadaisical attitude towards us and our environment which is one of the core responsibilities saddled to them. Our living conditions should be enhanced because unattended garbage causes menace to people’s health.

“The board should listen to the cry of the masses from Mpape residential area, wipe their tears and put a smile on their faces through the excavation of heaped trash in the area so as to ensure a neater environment,” he advised.

Medical advisory

In an interview with Dr Judith Imoh, a medical practitioner, Inside Abuja gathered that improper waste disposal poses a serious threat to nature. She said that it may lead to water pollution, land pollution, air pollution, loss of biodiversity and exposes residents to health risks.

“Dumped refuse are ideal breeding grounds for bacteria, insect and vermin. The flies that visit the garbage are also the same flies that roam around one’s food and drop their offspring on the plate thereby, increasing the risk of one contracting salmonella, which causes typhoid fever, food poisoning, enteric fever, gastroenteritis and other major illnesses.

Besides flies, other animals that can thrive from the garbage include rats and dogs. “At household level, proper segmentation of waste has to be done and it should be ensured that all organic matters are kept aside for composting, which is undoubtedly the best method for the correct disposal of this segment of the waste.

In fact, the organic part of the waste that is generated decomposes more easily, attracts insects and causes diseases. Organic waste can be composted and then used as fertilizer.

“Waste disposed improperly, releases harmful chemicals into the soil and water. Such chemicals find their way up the food chain and when consumed by human beings, may lead to health complications such as cancer, liver disease and kidney disease.

” Improperly disposed wastes such as plastic containers act as breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Of course, mosquitoes are responsible for the spread of malaria and dengue fever.

“Also, burning of refuses are not advisable because it produces tonnes of toxic ash and pollutes the air and water,” she said. According to her, some studies have detected traces of cancer in residents exposed to hazardous waste.

“Proper methods of waste disposal have to be undertaken to ensure that it does not affect the environment or cause health hazard to the people living in the environment.”she said.