Heaps of refuse have taken over some streets in Owerri municipality and the adjoining communities.

Our Correspondent, who monitored the situation yesterday, noticed that the most affected areas included, but not limited to parts of Douglas Road, Irete and Nekede communities in Owerri West local council area of the state.

At the World Bank Housing Estate, New Owerri, Vanguard spotted a 50-metre long refuse heap located close to Ideal Suite Hotel roundabout, abandoned by the state government’s Environmental Sanitation Agency.

A man, who claimed that he resides close to the refuse, lamented that those living around the area, have resorted to burning the rubbish periodically. “The stench oozing from the refuse dump is obviously a serious threat to human health,” he said.

The situation is worse during the rainy season. However, those of us living very close to the refuse, have resorted to burning the rubbish periodically,” the man said.

Although he could not say when the Sanitation Agency attended to the refuse heap, he however said: “The filthy, smelly refuse has been there for several months and it does appear that the state government is not looking this way at all.”

At the Douglas Road axis, a Hausa foreign exchange dealer, who simply gave his name as Mallam Jibril, said that “the refuse is building up gradually and if government fails to attend to it, the people will simply be in trouble”.

Mallam Jibril, who spoke in impeccable Owerri dialect, appealed to Governor Rochas Okorocha, to “please order his workers to clean the environment”. The situation was not different at Irete community, as all the respondents urged the state government to “come to our aid and dispose the refuse properly”. (Vanguard)

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