By Donald Iorchir
Wastes, once generated, become a nuisance. It can be in three forms; that is, solid, liquid and gas particulates.
Since it is of no importance to the individual generator, it ought to be disposed in order to eliminate the inconveniences it poses to the community or the individual. This is then known as waste management. Management of solid wastes in urban areas has come a long way with the different programmes set up by the three tiers of government and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).
Looking at wastes management in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT); for now, the territory does not have many industries that generate industrial wastes. The major solid wastes are that of refuse from households, commercial and institutional establishments. But since one cannot remove hazardous medical waste from urban solid wastes earlier mentioned, it must be mentioned always when talking about urban solid waste because it poses a great danger in the future if not properly managed.
Solid wastes management is a constitutional responsibility of area councils and local government areas. But owing to the metropolitan nature of Abuja, the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) has been vested with the statutory authority to control and oversee all aspects of environment planning and protection matters in the federal capital, and wastes management is part of it. It is agreed that environmental management is an arduous task for its managers in Nigeria. As we have on our shoulders, the direct responsibility of addressing one of the most malignant environmental problem bedeviling us, which is solid waste collection and disposal, we should as much as possible cooperate and collaborate in the policy formulation, programme development and projects execution, having recognized that sound environmental practice is a form for achieving sustainable development.
It is the wish of everybody to see the city of Abuja clean, irrespective of who does the cleaning.
Based on the aforementioned, in the FCT, one would then ask, what roles do the area councils play?
The AEPB has been using task force system to enforce sanitation in the territory, but analysts say it is not effective and should be scrapped. The board handles the evacuation of wastes, yet the result is not impressive as heaps of wastes are allowed to stay for a long time without attention. And from the look of things, it lacks the manpower and machinery to effectively manage wastes even within the municipal area of the territory, not to talk of the area council headquarters where wastes are seen at strategic junctions and undeveloped plots.
In the past, residents were compelled to obtain plastic containers for wastes storage. These were supplied by the AEPB. Galvanized waste bins were then placed at strategic locations as dump sites for residents to be emptying their household wastes. Bins evacuation trucks were used at designated times to evacuate the roll-on-roll off the galvanized containers. After sometime, the galvanized containers were left unattended, hence they were filled and the wastes littered the surroundings, making collection expensive.
Blueprint’s investigation reveals that out of the six area councils in the FCT, only one has a dump site. A report says that the number approved per area council is three, with an average distance of one kilometre to collection location; with a supposed period of four years. This shows that the dump sites are grossly inadequate for effective waste management.
In a related survey, it was discovered that the AEPB has six dump sites located at Jikwoyi, Karmo, Kubwa, Karshi, Mpape, and Gwagwa, with the site at Karmo being the oldest.
The current dispensation, which does not have budget allocation for wastes management in the area councils, hampers the activities of the area councils in that direction.
The method of users of wastes services paying for such services could also be employed as it is done in places like Lagos and Delta. The AEPB should be using public health staff of the area councils at no extra cost, to avoid duplication of functions and misplacement of priority. The area councils must be fully integrated in the planning and implementation of the management.
Wastes collection as one of the most important aspects of wastes management, should be revisited by the AEPB. According to analysts, there are three basic methods of wastes collection; house to house, communal depots and herbicide. Of all the three, environmental experts are of the view that house to house is most expensive but suitable for residential layouts and other well-planned areas of the city. It is however said to be common in high or low density residential areas, where neighbourhood waste bins are used.
Here, the collection crew enters into premises and take out the containers, empties it into the collection vehicles and put it back. Though it is labour-intensive and time consuming, it can be effective if handled by private contractors who will sign a service agreement with stipulated households and suitable collections time agreed upon.
It is important that AEPB execute its wastes management role in partnership with the private sector for more sustainable management. By this arrangement, users of the service should be considered too, for they will be made to pay for the services. With the level of corruption in our country, one will wonder whether this system will be effective, since the private sector involved will be interested only in money-making aspects of the contract than effective evacuation at a stipulated time. AEPB, as a supervisor of the private sector in this arrangement, will have a monitoring unit to handle complaints from residence over non-compliance of the terms of agreement.
The revenue generated from the services could be used to pay the contractors. And a clear-cut distinction of the roles of every participating agency or body will be stated; the private sector could be involved, too, and the same with the area councils, for easy understanding and sustainable wastes management.
