Aba residents call for more waste bins in the city

Reacting to the role played by the government through the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) recently to keep the city clean, residents lauded government’s effort, saying that the deployment of a senior official to man the operations of the agency in Aba was a right step towards the right direction.In separate interviews with Daily […]

Reacting to the role played by the government through the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) recently to keep the city clean, residents lauded government’s effort, saying that the deployment of a senior official to man the operations of the agency in Aba was a right step towards the right direction.
In separate interviews with Daily Trust, residents said much still needs to be done to keep Aba clean and to change its perception as a dirty city.
Mr Francis Obasi, a business man on Clifford road, said the level of cleanliness in Aba has improved over the last month, adding that to sustain it, more refuse buckets should be placed at strategic areas in the city, close to homes, factories and offices.
He said, “Government should help residents to live cleaner lives by providing a recycling system to recycle all the polythene materials, iron and steel littering the streets.
“It could also employ youths and put them on streets to collect materials with economic value for recycling. With this in place, refuse will be off our streets”, he said.
Chukwujekwu Azu, another businessman condemned the attitude of Aba residents towards handling of waste, stating however, that government also contributes to Aba’s dirty state.
“Aba residents contribute in making Aba a dirty place because they throw waste indiscriminately but government is also to be blamed for not providing refuse collection buckets and placing them strategically at designated points in order to discourage indiscriminate dumping attitude of people”.
Azu further called for proper reorientation of the people, adding that government should provide and enforce environmental laws to keep people on check.
“Go to other cities where these rules are stringently enforced, you find Aba people complying but when they come back to their city, they do as they like. I think this is because government has not done enough on its part to ensuring compliance of environmental laws in the state and putting all the mechanisms in place to keep the city clean so that when people come into Aba, they know that it is no longer what it used to be”, he submitted.
Another resident, Clement Okoye, a tricyclist, corroborated this view saying that Aba has been known to be a dirty city but the recent effort by the government to change this perception is commendable.
He observed that refuse buckets should be made closer to the people to encourage proper disposal of waste, urging the government to use levies paid to it to employ people who would monitor these buckets and check illegal refuse dumping in the city.
Godspower Anario, civil servant, on his part said although government has improved on its effort in the area of keeping Aba clean but placing enough collection buckets and building public toilets at public places like markets will go a long way in discouraging people from dumping and passing wastes on the streets.
“The problem of dirt is not the problem of government alone. I think churches and the different market associations should join the government in orientating the people on the need to handle waste properly and keep their environment clean because of its serious health implications”, Anario said.
Meanwhile, the Deputy General Manager, ASEPA (Aba Division), Dr Okezie Ikpazu recently at a press briefing said when he resumed office few months ago, he inherited various challenges that marred the operations of the agency but that they have tried to overcome some of them.
“As I came, I inherited two functional trucks in Aba – one roll off truck and one contractor. We have managed to repair three more roll off trucks, making it four and we have stepped up our contractor to six. We have about 62 places where buckets should be but we have 18 buckets serving all the areas.
“I am aware that government has promised to provide equipment to relieve our problems but we are not folding our arms as we have from our running cost commissioned the engineer to provide us with more buckets”, he said.
Ikpazu said his agency has the capacity to make Aba one of the neatest cities in the country adding that he has a team of people who are committed and determined to do the work.