BY ESTHER GABRIEL
Have you stepped out of your house hoping for a great day and then the aura is disrupted by gory sights of refuse, dumped indiscriminately and the odour oozing out almost knocking off the flow of air from your lungs? And then you ask yourself what the problem is with us. Maybe where you reside is clean. Do not be too comfortable because the chances that you will meet the ‘package’ are high. Little litters here and there characterize market places, stores; especially those who deal with the sales of house hold items.
The environment is dirty and seems to be ignored. One wonders whose duty it is to clean up the environment. The cliché that “dirty no dey kill African man” has become unpopular. The reasons are obvious. With the emergence of deadly viruses, you will agree that the saying that cleanliness is godliness should become our daily mantra. This is one of the major life line needed for the survival of mankind.
A quick question you should answer is ‘how do you dump your refuse?” Have you registered with the refuse disposal agencies? They are responsible for the collection and proper disposal of refuse. Are you among those who have no regards for the environment as such dump refuse at the closest refuse heaps? There are people who, in a bid to cut down expenses, patronize the services of some people who are involved in illegal collection and disposal of refuse.
Where this refuse is dumped is not the business of these persons. This act is highly inimical to the overall health of our environment and should be discouraged. This is because, the bill for waste disposal charged by the waste management board as a matter of fact is not outrageous. It is very affordable considering the health benefits of proper disposal of wastes.
It is important to commend those of us who have been faithful in the payment of their bills for proper disposal of refuse. There are landlords that infuse this fee into the rent. Some pay in advance. This is recommendable.
Registering with the waste management board is not all that is needed for a clean and safe environment. Having a waste bin with enough capacity to hold the waste pending when they will be collected is also important. It is not good enough to have waste bins that will overflow with dirt and then pollute the environment.
If you are among those that see payment of this fee as a burden, you need to change. There are people who unashamedly drive down in exotic cars to refuse heaps to dispose their refuse. One will begin to wonder if they are financially incapable to foot the bills.
There are areas that have very poor road networks. As a result, the waste management team seems unable to access these areas coupled with the fact that residents in these areas are unresponsive in the payment of bills. People are left with no choice but to locate the nearest waste heap to dispose their refuse.
It is, however, important to state that despite the poor road networks that lead to these neglected areas, trucks conveying table water are able to navigate their way to these areas. In spite of the aforementioned short falls, the waste management board is doing a great job and is encouraged to do more.
However, there is an urgent need to reach out to those areas that have been neglected over the years due to some logistics. This, they can do by partnering with community leaders of these neglected areas. This way, a campaign can be carried out within the community which will give the people the necessary orientation on the health benefits of proper disposal of refuse as well as the dangers inherent in indiscriminate dumping of refuse.
