The Nasarawa State Waste Management Bureau was established to keep the state clean from health hazard, traffic congestion, unpleasantness and blockage of drainages. However the mandate seems unattainable because of the huge population in Karu local government area, near the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Karu local government area cannot keep the rules and regulations of the bureau because of its dense population thereby creating, air pollution, streets congestions and traffic as a result of which hazards accompanied with respiratory diseases are likely to occur.
Refuse within Karu local government are dumped carelessly which is detrimental to health. However, the Managing Director of the bureau, Barrister Abubakar Aliyu Madaki, adopted measured to tackle the menace and make the state clean.
In fact, houses, markets, waterways, highways, streets, etc have been turned to waste dumps by people in Karu, leaving Nasarawa waste management with no option than to evacuate them on daily basis which sometimes may not be possible because people continue to dump these waste until it becomes heap, and turn round to blame management for inability to clean up the state, which is a source of worry to the officials.
Although Governor Abdullahi Sule is doing his best by ensuring adequate funding of the bureau to keep Nasarawa state and environs clean, but the bureau has numerous challenges such as vehicles to evacuate the refuse.
The managing director said the management is bent on enforcing sanitation laws, adding that the governor and the board are determined to protect the lives and properties of the people in the state.
Madaki stated since his assumption of office as the managing director, he re-engineered the sanitation task force for proper accountability and service delivery in order to ensure sanitary laws are obeyed.
He said that beggars are congested along the Mararaba overhead bridge which causes traffic congestion but that the agency has to move the beggars away in order to allow free flow of traffic on the highway.
Madaki however charged the people to be law-abiding, and not to litter the environment with waste or dump waste on sewage lines, warning that offenders will be charged to court.
To improve the sanitary situation of the state, the agency created dumpsites within the cities where bagged wastes are disposed. Officials of the waste management often evacuate the wastes from dump sites provided by the state government to the point of disposal. Thus,the management has engaged private individuals to dispose all the waste within the state and environs.
Even with the sanctions against erring residents, indiscriminate waste disposal is still a problem to the bureau because of the inability of residents to bag their wastes and dispose appropriately at dumpsites.
Consequently, the bureau is considering the payment of a token for refuse for refuse disposal. Failure to pay for refuse will attract penalty, that will enable residents to be more careful about indiscriminate dumping of refuse.
The managing director re-iterated that the agency will effective carry out its responsibilities in line with the governor’s mandate, saying in due time the governor will facilitate all waste into recycling and wealth creation for the good of the people.
Chris Alu,
Maraba, Karu local government area, Nasarawa state
