Technical Adviser on Environment 1 to the governor of Bayelsa State, Alagoa Morris, has expressed concern over the indiscriminate disposal of sewage around the state capital, Yenagoa, and its environs.
Morris, who stated this during an advocacy visit to the state Environmental Sanitation Authority leadership in Yenagoa, raised the alarm that the menace of improper sewage disposal was dangerous to general public health and safety of residents.
The foremost environmental and community rights activist in the Niger Delta region also drew the attention of the environmental sanitation authority to the problem of oil and plastics pollution, which was capable of causing cancer and related diseases.
He also said it was disturbing that some residents had made it a habit to dump refuse into the Epie Creek, which traverses the length of Yenagoa, along the Mbiama-Yenagoa Road, urging the sanitation agency to look into the number of receptacles provided across the metropolis for refuse collection.
Besides, the Governor Douye Diri’s aide also bemoaned noise pollution from generator sets within the neighbourhoods, as well as indiscriminate refuse burning, which he noted chokes the air and causes serious health challenges.
Acknowledging the challenges facing the agency, Morris said, “The way people are dumping raw sewage at the Etelebou dumpsite for many years now, is dangerous to the environment and human beings within that area, and by extension, the connecting water bodies – lakes, ponds and streams. People are pouring volumes of sewage and each day people are dumping (emptying) several trucks of sewage there.
“Sewage should be treated before being discharged in order to reduce the medical bills of our people, and for our people to enjoy good quality water in the environment to drink. Are we not addressing the issue of solid waste dump site instead of the present location? Or sewage treatment plant that will take care of this dangerous discharge that we have been doing over the years?
“Are the refuse receptacles enough? People are using the Epie Creek as a dump site, dumping real solid waste into the creek. If we want our environment to be clean, then a lot of work has to be done, like sensitisation and jingles.”
Morris, who is also the Head of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria in Bayelsa State, urged the agency to enforce environmental sanitation law and activate its tribunal to try offenders, noting that residents also have the civic obligation to keep their surroundings clean and not to be blaming government all the time.
He, however, commended the sanitation authority for ensuring that wastes dumped at designated sites were promptly evacuated and not allowed to overtake roads and streets as was the case in the past, stressing that the efficiency should be sustained to safeguard public health.
In his remarks, the Head of Administration/Human Resources Management at the state Sanitation Authority, Ebi Appah, who represented the Permanent Secretary, said the agency was doing its best to keep Yenagoa and its environs clean despite the identifiable challenges.
He described the visit of the governor’s aide as a welcomed one, adding that it was the beginning of greater synergy for safer environment for Bayelsa residents.
Some members of the agency’s board, including Philemon Dickson and Sigha Suede, said a few committees had been put in place and were working on several issues with a view to resolving some environmental problems, assuring more operational efficiency.
Dickson said, “The responsibilities of government are numerous and expanding. We will collaborate to ensure more efficiency.”
