Jakara Bola: Kano City’s 60-year-old notorious refuse dump

It is popularly known as Jakara Bola because it is situated at Jakara, an area within the heart of Kano City. The refuse collection site which has a history spanning over 60 years is known by many people in the state for its notoriety. No garbage collection site in Kano has generated more controversy and […]

It is popularly known as Jakara Bola because it is situated at Jakara, an area within the heart of Kano City. The refuse collection site which has a history spanning over 60 years is known by many people in the state for its notoriety. No garbage collection site in Kano has generated more controversy and concern as has Jakara Bola. Owing to its infamy in terms of the many challenges it poses to people of the area, it is often a topical issue among residents, government, management of the state refuse collection and health and security officials.
For years now the people of Jakara have been living in pains, despair and trauma over the problems associated with this refuse dump sited in their community. Often, they complain about the problems of filth, flooding, traumatic traffic jam, mosquitoes and other health related challenges in the area but it does not appears government knows what to do about the menace of Jakara Bola.
Around Kano City, Jakara Bola is a major refuse collection centre and due to the population density of the area it always fills up with waste within every 24 hours. People from Goron Dutse, Kwanar Goda, Yar Kasuwa, Kasuwar Kurmi and other places within the city on daily basis bring their refuse to dump there.
Some elders in Jakara, who were pained by what they describe as inaction of government on Jakara Bola, said successive governments in Kano State to the present administration were aware of the disturbing issue of the refuse collection centre but none has taken any step to address the cantankerous issue. It was gathered that before the immediate past governor, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, left office he visited Jakara Bola on two occasions. His successor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje upon taking over power was also reported to have visited the refuse collection site. The residents said he even walked on the refuse to see things more clearly for appropriate action to be taken. However, months after his visit, residents said nothing was seen to have been done on the dumpsite.
They commended the efforts of the state refuse management board for coming regularly to remove the refuse. But they said that has not helped matters because within 24 hours of evacuation it would be filled up with waste again as if it had not been removed for months. If anything, the residents said what they wanted is total relocation of Jakara Bola elsewhere.
Some of them have suggested Dala area as possible alternative refuse collection site. They said because of its population and the other advantages it has in terms of space when compared to Jakara, it would be a good location for a new refuse collection site in the area. The residents insisted that it was the only thing that would bring sanity and relief to them in Kano City.
When Daily Trust on Sunday visited the waste collection centre in Kano City, it was observed that refuse had almost taken over a portion of the road at that particular junction where the dumpsite is situated. Motorists, commercial tricycle operators and other road users were seen trying frantically to make their way out of the traumatic traffic situation caused by heap of refuse dumped in the area. Even though a police station is located close to the dumpsite, it does not provide any succour to the precarious and confusing traffic situation at Jakara Bola.
Nuhu Muhammadu, owner of a bookshop opposite Jakara Bola told Sunday Trust that traffic situation at the junction where the refuse site is has become a daily nightmare to them and the road users. “This is the agony we face here every day. As you can see the refuse collection site is by the junction. People bring refuse here every minute from Mararaba, Kwanar Goda and the market located in the city to dump here. This is the main and oldest refuse dump site in the city,” he said.
He said that the refuse collectors were always at Jakara to remove the waste but that within 24 hours it would be filled up again. “Yesterday, they were here to collect it but see how it has filled up again as if nobody has touched it for over six months. The problem is that they have stopped people from dumping their wastes at some of the places where they were throwing them in the city. Now, this is where those people are coming to dump their refuse. If they come to remove the waste today, by tomorrow morning it will be filled up so much that it causes traffic jam here every day.”
Muhammadu noted that when traders from Kurmi market want to dispose of things they no longer needed from the goods they brought from Lagos, Abuja and other places, they usually come to Jakara Bola to dump them. “They even dump scraps of television, radio sets and other things like that here. They continue to dump these things here until the place is filled up and what we witness next is traffic jam or flood when rain falls. Every time it is like this, the situation has never for once changed here for many years,” Muhammadu lamented.
He told Daily Trust on Sunday that there was a time the state government made attempt to buy the site of a mosque and a privately owned public convenience located somewhere in the city to convert them to dumpsite in Jakara but it seemed the owners of the sites were not ready to sell them off to government. “Even before Kwankwaso left power he visited here. The present governor has also come. I don’t think there is any governor who has governed Kano State that does not know the problem that Jakara Bola constitutes to this community. They are aware of it and they know its challenges and issues around it but I don’t know why it is difficult for them to do something about it. When Governor Ganduje came to the dumpsite, he went as far as walking on it in other to see things for himself but he is yet to do anything about it,” he said.
Malam Ibrahim Danbabani is an elder in Jakara community. When he was speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday over the problem the people of the area are facing because of the dumpsite he said “When we were growing up here, I remember that for over three months the dumpsite may not be as full as this. But now it takes just two to three days to fill up to the extent of causing hold up here. Look at it, could you believe the state refuse management people were here yesterday to evacuate the refuse heaps?
He said the population in the area has grown within the years. “If they remove this waste here today in the next 24 hours the whole place will be filled up again, that is the situation here. This dumpsite you are seeing is over 60 years old. Government has promised us that it would be removed from here but we are yet to see them taking any action on it.”
Danbabani stated also that there is nothing government can do to help the people of the area on the issue of the dumpsite except it is removed completely from the community. He said “I think government is in a dilemma now over where to use as refuse collection site. This dumpsite is affecting our health. We fall sick often because of filth and mosquitoes the wastes breeds but there is nothing we can do except this dumpsite is removed from here.”
Another resident, Muhammadu Jakara said: “Governor Ganduje was here to see the dumpsite. I saw him on two occasions when he came to inspect the dumpsite, he even went round it and climb on it to see what could be done about it but we haven’t seen anything done about it. We are always afraid anytime rain is about to fall because the area will be flooded and there will be traffic situation here. We are the ones here, we own shops here and we suffer the pains caused by the dumpsite,” he said.
He suggested that government could move it to Dala. “The population there is not much compared to Jakara. You know people bring refuse from Goron Dutse, Kwanar Goda, Yar Kasuwa, Kasuwar Kurmi and other places to dump here. Jakara is in the heart of Kano City, I don’t think locating a dumpsite in this particular area is something good. Let them create another place for people to dump their refuse so that those of us here can live in peace and have healthy lives.”
When Daily Trust on Sunday contacted the Managing Director of the Kano State Refuse Management and Sanitation Board (REMASAB), Group Captain Mohammed Mamuda Kura (rtd), on the issue he insisted that Jakara Bola is not a dumpsite but a refuse collection centre and his board has no plan to relocate it because of the population density in the area. “We have no plan to relocate it. If we   try to remove it from where it is now we would be creating more problems for the inhabitants of the place,” he said.
Kura stated if his board should relocate it from where it is at present people won’t have a place close by to dump their refuse. “People may have to go some kilometers away to dispose of their wastes. You don’t expect someone coming from his house for instance, a small boy or girl with a basket of rubbish in his hands to go three or 10 kilometers before he could throw away the garbage so, relocating it is not feasible for now.”
The REMASAB boss urged the residents that are complaining to show understanding with government over the challenges they are going through. “Where do those complaining about it want us to take it to? It is at a city centre and there is population there. We don’t want people to come to the front of their houses and dump garbage. That is why we created a place for them to dispose their refuse for us to collect every day.
He said his board was aware of the challenges in the area and that was why it has increased the frequency of collecting refuse there. “Instead of the two days period we now go there daily to collect refuse. I have been given approval by the state government to operate now at night. Operating at night will help reduce the traffic situation in the area. If we should leave it for two or three days without collecting, it will become a large heap and may take us a whole day to remove.
My challenge for now is equipment and we are putting them in good shape. In one or two weeks’ time we assure Kano residents that we won’t have any challenge in collecting garbage in the metropolis,” Kura also said.