18th April, 2017
Some residents of Abuja suburbs have called on Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEBP) and waste management agencies in area councils to evacuate the refuse that blocked gutters in their neighbourhoods.
The residents made the call on Tuesday in separate interviews with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
Mrs Grace Joseph, a resident of Gwagwalada, said that the garbage, which some residents dumped indiscriminately, blocked the flow of water in some gutters when rains fell some weeks ago.
Joseph, who described indiscriminate disposal of waste as a serious environmental concern, urged relevant authorities to deploy environmental task force to the area to apprehend and prosecute persons who disposed garbage indiscriminately.
She also underscored the need for AEBP and waste management agencies in Gwagwalada Area Council to unclog the gutters through improved and sustained evacuation of waste in the area.
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Mrs Bilikisu Olarewaju, a resident of Deidei, said that indiscriminate dumping of waste was responsible for the perennial menace of erosion and flood in the neighbourhood during the rainy season.
She urged relevant waste management agencies to adopt better evacuation procedures in the area in order to ensure free flow of water and curb erosion as well as flood.
Mr Ifeanyi Chukwuemeka, a resident of Kubwa, urged AEPB to readopt the monthly “Envronmental Sanitation Day’’ in order to facilitate greater community participation in cleaning the environment.
Chukwuemeka, who insisted that environmental sanitation was a collective responsibility, urged relevant stakeholders in the environment sector to support the government’s efforts to clean the environment and evacuate refuse in their communities.