Residents decry heaps of refuse in Jos-Bukuru metropolis
Refuse
By Blessing Odega
Jos, Aug. 8, 2018 (NAN) Some residents of Jos-Bukuru metropolis have decried the presence of heaps of refuse on major streets in Jos-Bukuru metropolis, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports.
The residents, who spoke with NAN on Wednesday in Jos, described the heaps of refuse littering major streets as “an eyesore”, and called on the Plateau government to review its waste collection policy.
The state government outsourced the collection of refuse to private outfits in January, a step it said would boost efficiency and shore up revenue.
Mrs. Saratu Gidado, a pharmacist, who resides in Bukuru, lamented that the heaps of refuse in the area were increasing everyday.
“If the government does not address the problem, it could lead to an outbreak of diseases. It could also cause flooding.
“The major streets in the city are littered with heaps of refuse. The situation gets worse by the minute; If nothing is done, I fear an outbreak of cholera or something even worse,” he said.
She said that the rains were washing the waste into gutters and blocking the drainage.
“The private waste collectors are not effective; government must review the policy to save the city,” she said.
Similarly, Mr Austin Pam, a civil servant, observed that the city was getting “dirtier and clumsier” everyday.
“The aim of outsourcing waste collection was to ensure efficiency, but the opposite is the situation now.
“It is very disheartening to see heaps and heaps of waste on major streets, at the side works and every corner in Jos-Bukuru metropolis.
“When the waste collection was handled by the ministry of environment in collaboration with the Plateau Environmental Protection and Sanitation Agency, the situation wasn’t this deplorable.
“The state government really needs to review the waste collection policy to forestall an outbreak of diseases because the waste sites are breeding grounds for rodents and vectors which transmit diseases to humans,” he said.
Mr Gyang Peters, a trader at the Anguldi Junction, also decried the dearth of dump sites in Jos, saying that refuse was being dumped along the streets because the few available sites were overflowing with uncollected waste.
“In the past, there were waste bins where wasre were dumped daily, but such bins are no longer found anywhere,” he lamented. (NAN)
UBO/MOL/ETS
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Edited by Mustapha Lamidi and Ephraims Sheyin