Refuse, people compete for space in Abuja

After the expiration of the 21 days’ ultimatum given to area councils to clean up parks, markers and the entire territory by the Senate committee on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), more is still to be desired especially in some satellite towns in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).
The chairman of the committee, Sen. Dino Melaye, had said Abuja is too dirty to be the nation’s seat of power.
 “You see heaps of rubbish on the road side. Abuja is the pride of Africa, we cannot let this continue. After three weeks, if you don’t clean up the FCT, we will clean you up.You cannot be collecting revenue from the market and the market will be very dirty,” he said.
However, the three weeks deadline has long elapsed, yet refuse remains a common sight especially along the main roads within the satellite towns.  From Nyanya, Karu, Jikwoyi, Kurudu to Orozo refuse is piled on road dividers instead of the usual dumpsites.
Daily Trust observed that engaging private waste collectors to evacuate waste within the areas has made residents to develop the habit of dumping their wastes by the roadside.
However, these indiscriminate dump sites when not cleared constitute a problem for people who ply the roads.The heaps present an unpleasant sight and unhealthy stench which worsens with the rainy season.
The positioning of a waste tank very close to the road has encouraged indiscriminate dumping of waste and this threatens the health of people whose businesses are nearby and residents within the area.
A shop owner in Karu, whose shop is opposite one of the waste collection bins said people no longer containerize their wastes properly but pack them loosely and dump by the road.
He said the act became common when waste collectors started clearing waste in the areas, as the people now saw it best to dump their waste anywhere since it will be cleared.
Abdullahi Yahaya, a trader in Nyanya where one of such tanks is placed said the tank has taken up part of the road making it difficult for people and cars to move freely.
He said people now threw their refuse not minding if it was into the tank or not adding that if not evacuated within the space of a day, the stench became offensive especially when it rained.
Mrs. Bose Oshindare, a housewife in Jikwoyi, said the waste collectors stopped coming into the residential area after they demanded for fees which most people considered to be high.“So they only clear waste by the road side and that is the reason why people dump refuse in culvert where it must be cleared,” she said.
She however said that the dumpsite along Phase 2 which was earlier cleared due to its position in the mini market and a football field is now a mess because people within the area have gone back to using area boys that collect waste for paltry amounts and dump it there.
The Public Relations Officer of the Satellite Town Development Agency (STDA), Felicia Meme, bemoaned the activities of the residents who dump refuse in the road medians, adding that there was a big bin provided for refuse.
She said residents in most cases preferred to dump refuse by the roadside despite several warnings to desist from such act.
Meme said though the agency was committed to evacuating refuse timely,it was hindered by insufficient funds to pay its contractors. 
“They are evacuating the waste as I speak to you but the reason for the delay is funding.In most cases, they evacuate in the morning but in the afternoon it had piled up again,” she said.
She said despite the funding problem, the agency did not allow the waste to stay more than necessary and solicited for the cooperation of the residents to dump their well containerized waste in the right places so that evacuation could be easier.