OWERRI— THERE are fears of prison epidemic outbreak in Owerri, if the heaps of refuse at various locations are not removed soonest by the State Environmental Protection Agency (ISEPA).The President of Concerned Aladinma Residents (CAR), Chief Chimere Soronnadi, who raised the alarm while addressing newsmen at the weekend, accused the state government of directing state owned refuse disposal trucks to the Aladinma dumping site. "Despite the level of environmental degradation now facing Owerri municipality, there are fears that an epidemic of unimaginable proportion may soon invade residents of the capital city unless conscious efforts were made to cart away the refuse," Soronnadi lamented.
According to the President of CAR, the alarming mountain of refuse in the Aladinma area has forced some residents of the high brow Housing Estate to either seek for new homes, especially in the face of the offensive stench coming from the refuse dump. "The state government is responsible for the huge refuse dump on the Aladinma/CATOL road. Despite repeated appeals and delegation to the authorities of the relevant government agency to check the health hazard, trucks fully laden with refuse have kept coming to the contentious site.
This is a sign of government approval of the site", Soronnadi fumed. Continuing, he said that apart from the Aladinma area, the ever busy Douglas Road and a point along Owerri - Port Harcourt road, have since become major dumping sites for all manner of refuse collected in the state capital.It was his considered opinion that these heavy dump sites, measuring more than two kilometres, have not only been causing traffic bottleneck on the roads but also attracts flies, rodents and dangerous reptiles which pose serious danger to the lives of those living or passing through the area.
"House flies, rodents and dangerous reptiles attracted by the filthy environment, have taken over our premises. We have repeatedly pleaded with government to come and take a second look at the huge mess, but we were shunned," Soronnadi explained.
Answering another question, the President of CAR disclosed that the association may be forced to take the state government to court if nothing urgent was done to arrest the ugly situation. "For now, we have been adopting dialogue as a means of settling issues. We have been appealing to government to realize that our health and that of our children are in serious danger. If and when we finally realize that government is not prepared to clear the huge refuse dump at Aladinma, we may take them to court, to enforce our right to decent environment," Soronnadi said.
