Residents bemoan indiscriminate dumping in Nigerien communities

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Residents of several communities in Niger State have cried out for help, asking the government to urgently clean up garbage dumps in the state to prevent disease outbreaks.

Residents have expressed their displeasure over the way the government has kept silent about the indiscriminate dumping of garbage.

Some said they were concerned about water pollution, blocked drainage, flooding, soil pollution and degraded infrastructure.

Speaking to our correspondent, Ismaila Muhammad Yaro, in Suleja, said people are dumping rubbish on the road because there are no designated areas to dump it and the government agency does not was not in charge of cleaning them.

He added that waste not cleared by the competent authorities could lead to an epidemic of diseases that could affect people's health.

Chijioke Charles, who also resides in Suleja, said the waste had been left unattended for months.

"Those who are supposed to pack this waste have done nothing. We are suffering from this. The smell alone is not good.

"They say there's COVID 19, monkeypox and such and the trash has been there for over a month with no one coming to pack it up. Instead of the government paying the people who pack it up, it does nothing.

"We suffer from the smell and the flies that come with it. They left it because they don't live here or do business here. We're begging the government to come and clean it up for us" , added Chijioke.

In Minna, the state capital, the situation is no different as the large, state-of-the-art Kure Market has also become an eyesore with rubbish being dumped uncleaned.

According to one of the traders, Mohammed Dangana, whose shop is opposite one of the dumps, the traders filed a complaint with the authorities but nothing was done.

“We are just looking. I have an outlet near the trash can. We complained but nothing is done. We are tired of complaining. So now we are just looking,” he said. he declared.

One of Kure Market's customers, Juliana Jacob, said, "Think of a market as a dump. In fact, the market has become a dump. It's supposed to be one of the parking spaces. One wonders what all the revenue collected in the form of vehicle tolls is used for.

"If you want to enter the market, you pay either N100 or N50 depending on where you want to pack, not to mention the money collected from traders, especially those selling their wares.

“Hundreds of cars visit the market daily and yet the local government authority cannot use part of the funds to take care of this part of the market.”

The director general of the Niger State Environmental Protection Agency, Habib Abdulkadir, has blamed the agency's inability to dispose of waste in the state on funding and refusal by residents to pay for waste disposal.

“The government has been doing this for ages and it has come to a point where the government has come to a point of underfunding in the area of ​​waste management funding in the state.

"The government is doing its best but the population is still growing and the cities are also growing. We need to improve the equipment we need to deploy to cover these upcoming areas.

"It's gotten to a point where there's no alternative but for people to pay their waste bills." said Habib.

NSEPA Waste Management Officer Mohammed Isa Kutigi said there was a problem of lack of trucks to carry out waste disposal.

He added that the agency has been unable to pay the contractors for about three months, which has resulted in the withdrawal of their services.

"The subcontractors cannot work because they are not paid. We have 11 trucks in Suleja. In Kontagora we have six trucks.

“In Bida, we have three trucks and there are only five in Minna. He can't even deal only with the Tunga side. We have many challenges. The government needs to step in to provide lots of trucks so that we can solve this problem. »