Residents of Nekede community, in the Owerri West council area of Imo, have called on
the state government to intervene to clear a dumpsite in the area which has relatively
remained abandoned.
The residents who spoke in separate interviews with C-Advocate newspaper
correspondent said that the dumpsite has remained a source of concern as it has not
been cleared for close to one year.
Mr Dennis Okoro, a real estate agent who lives in the area said that the stench and
mosquitoes from the dumpsite was scaring people away from the community as it had
become “unbearable “.
Okoro added that the garbage in the dumpsite had grown so big that when it rains, “
some garbage are channeled into the nearby drainage by rainwater thus causing
blockage of the drainage, increasing flooding and worsening the already bad condition
of the road “.
Another resident, Mrs Chizoba Nnadi, a food vendor, said she was having a hard time
plying her trade as her customers had gradually stopped patronizing her “ due to the
unhealthy condition of the road caused by the abandoned dump site “.
She called on the Imo State Waste Management Agency and the Eastern Waste
Management Company Limited to take immediate action to address the situation.
A student, who chooses to identify as Chuks, said that his lodge, situated in the area
had become “ an apology to human existence “ and “unfit for habitation “, as a result of
the stench from the dump site.
Chuks, a student of microbiology, said that the resultant air pollution, contamination of
water sources and spread of diseases were inimical to human health and should be
addressed.
C- Advocate however recalls that the Imo State Government and the Eastern Waste
Management Company Limited, a German firm, recently signed a pact on how to achieve a
clean, hygienic and environmentally-friendly State, through proper waste gathering and
recycling.
The German firm had in July, recorded lauded exploits in waste management but seemed to
have a relapse late August.
With a capital expenditure budget of over N490 million, Imo residents are hopeful that dump
sites such as this will not be allowed to remain an environmental menace as adequate
funding provisions have already been made.
C- Advocate therefore joins residents of the area in the call on all concerned authorities to
rise to the occasion to clear the dump site and preserve the lives of tax paying residents.
The consequences of inaction are dire but together we can make Nekede road livable
again
