Olabisi Kehinde beams her searchlight on the heaps of plastic bottles that have continue to find their ways into our drainages, posing serious health and flooding dangers to the environment.
The rains are here and once again, it is time to take extra care of our environment and keep guard over our properties, lest they be swept away by deluges.
To this end, the various state governments across the country have been playing their parts, sending warnings and messages of caution to the people via the various media forms, and where necessary, applying corrective punitive measures through its sanitation officials.
In Lagos for example, drastic measures are being put in place by the government.
Drainages are been cleared, canals are being opened up and new waterways and channels are being built. Yet the little snag of dumping refuse in drainages have remained with us, frustrating government’s efforts and posing grave danger to both the guilty and the innocent.
Earlier in the week, Lagos, through its Commissioner for Environment, Tunji Bello, warned of impending massive rainfall in the year, saying that the state is expecting a whopping 260 days of rainfall and an estimated 1,824mm of water. The rainfall, he said would be experienced within and around the marina.
He also said the rains have been predicted to have a delay onset of about 2-13 days, with Lagos, Ondo, Ogun and some other states expected to have more pronounced delay onset by 8-13 days.
However, it does not look like Nigerians are fully getting ready, as it seems many are still ensconced in their old dangerous ways, dumping refuse in drainages and literally blocking the canals with bags of sachet water, plastic bottles and other refuse.
Whether it is in Mushin, Ajegunle, Ladipo Spare-parts Market or Itire, the waterways are populated with plastic bottles, with total disregard for sanitation, health hazards and flood. The scenario is worse at street junctions and at culvert points, with the plastic bottles laying siege and literally blocking the drainages.
In a chat with a local government health officer in Mushin, who opted for anonymity, the case of plastic bottles blocking drainages is one the government is still battling hard to eradicate. He said it is more as a result of careless people who drink the contents of the bottles and dump them indiscriminately.
“You would have noticed that this is more at bus-stops and motor-parks, where drainages and canals are not far away. This is because people drink the contents of the bottles and sachets, while waiting to commute and just throw them out of the window. Even the ones thrown in the buses like the government has advised are swept into the park and eventually into the drainages.”
He also cited improper management of waste as a major cause, arguing that if people bag their refuse for instance or properly disperse them, chances of them ending up in the drainages and canals will be minimal.
Another reason, he said is poor maintenance of frontal drainages by citizens. A case where people allow their frontal drainages to be filled with plastic bottles and bags without clearing is not only dangerous to health, but likely to cause drainage blockages and flooding.
Our investigation also shows that inadequate refuse bins by the waste management authority is also largely responsible for this. One trader at Idi-oro, Mushin, who gave her name as Paulina said “You cannot expect just one refuse bin provided by the government to be enough for the kind of crowd and transactions that take place here. You will discover that plastic bottles of Zobo, Agbo, Kunu and even soft drinks used in this area are always improperly disposed, hence the scenario we see in gutters.”
He therefore said the only way this situation can be stemmed is if they provide bins at every street junction.
He also wonders why these plastic bottles and bags, which are recyclable, are not being sorted for recycling. He said great business opportunities lie in them for scavengers and wondered why they are not taking advantage of them to make money.
He cited the case of Ile-Epo market and said that if the quantity of bottles seen in the drainages there is properly sorted out, scavengers are sure to smile home with fortune.
He therefore enjoined the government to further enlighten people on the potentials of recyclable waste, so that we may not only rid our water channels of dirt; but also ensure free flow of water, and create jobs and bountiful wealth.
Another respondent at Mushin bus-stop, Basira said if the sanitary officers get more serious with their jobs and fine houses with such huge plastic refuse in their drainages, the trend will improve.
As for those caught dropping the bottles, he recommended that a fine of N5,000 would serve as a great deterrent.
The health officer on his part complain of the challenge of under-staffing, saying only four health officers have been employed to manage the whole of his local government.