Tackling Benin City's refuse heaps
From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin
WHAT to do with the refuse heaps in Benin City, the Edo State capital, had been a long-standing problem.
The ancient city was literally being overwhelmed by refuse due to total disregard for environmental cleanliness by many, despite the monthly sanitation exercise for which previous governments had been voting millions of naira.
At a point, it got so bad that the eyesores constituted by refuse heaps became common topic for discussion and readily caught the eyes of visitors to major streets and markets in Benin.
In fact, it has been said also that one of the reasons the chairman of one of the local councils in the Benin City metropolis was suspended was his inability to evacuate refuse in the markets in the council.
Efforts by previous governments to tackle the problem of waste management in Benin had not yielded the desired results.
Private-sector waste managers had been brought in but it yielded very little results.
Even the local councils, which managed the markets, could not fashion out any effective means of effectively collecting and evacuating refuse from markets and the streets of Benin.
But then, what has proved to be a change for the better arrived with the assumption of office of Adams Oshiomhole, who had promised during the campaigns that he would find a lasting solution to the problem.
As part of activities marking its one-year in office, the state government launched a new waste management scheme in the state- Edo State Sustainable Integrated Waste Management Programme (ESIWMP).
It is in collaboration with the private sector for which the government acquired 30 waste disposal trucks with 1,700 persons employed at various segments of the project.
But even before ESIWMP, the government had tackled the challenge posed by the notorious Costain along the Benin Bye-pass, which people and private waste managers, had turned into a dumpsite. Their excuse that the refuse would check erosion in the area proved untenable and the government eventually cleared the place and turned it into a garden.
While commissioning the trucks at Government House, Oshiomhole said mechanical brooms would also be acquired to enhance the work of the managers.
He said the beneficiaries would be made to pay a token but also emphasized that while disciplinary action would be taken against private waste managers who failed to register accordingly with the government.
"This is part of the public private partnership approach to dealing with public sector issues," he said.
He said his government did not have to spend what little resources there were procuring vehicles and that as he had said over and again during his campaign and on assumption of office, "This government believes that the challenge of keeping Edo State clean cannot be reduced to monthly symbolism in which every last Saturday of the month, you shut down the economy, force people to sleep a little longer in the name of cleaning the streets and cleaning the drainage.
"I have made the point that the challenge of keeping the city clean, the challenge of keeping the state clean will be a daily business and that, that business is capable of generating good jobs."
He said the commissioning of the trucks was demonstration of that commitment.
"We now have these vehicles which would be devoted exclusively to waste management.
We are moving away from the era of allowing local pick-up vehicles and all kinds of vehicles to carry waste in the streets with more hazards for our people. These are purpose-built vehicles that will be able to manage waste without polluting the environment and I am glad that in this process and again consistent with the promise and commitment we have made, we are creating jobs for about 1,700 young men and women who will now on a daily basis, ensure not only that our roads and streets are clean."
He said he hoped the local councils would be encouraged to carry out their duties of waste management in the markets better.
Oshiomhole also said he hoped people in Benin would no longer have a reason to go and dump their household waste in the dead of night in the market nearest to them as had been the practice.
"Whether you live in the GRA or you live in the popular side, there are people who will be coming to your neighbourhood to collect your waste and I believe that with time, people will see the benefit of paying a token so that we can sustain this effort.
"I also know that we are bringing in industrial sweepers.
I hope Action Congress (AC) people would understand because we are replacing the broom with a mechanical broom and I know that AC broom is something that we celebrate.
"But I assure you that it does not devalue the power of the broom in our daily lives, it is just that the challenge of keeping the streets and industrial premises clean is better handled these days with more modern equipment and you can achieve results faster".
The State Commissioner for the Environment, Prince Clem Agba said N600 million have been committed to the project part of which he said would be for the procurement two mechanical road sweepers, forty-eight 10 metres large waste receptacles, three roll-on roll-off hoist trucks, two tipper trucks, two compacting trucks, 350 1100L waste bins and 500 street litter bins.
He said the second phase of the programme would begin next year with the setting up of two additional dumpsites in Benin, the waste-to-wealth through re-cycling and the production of compost manure.
"In addition, other parts of the state would benefit from the new waste management system," Agba said.
"The programme is designed in such a manner that no waste manager would operate in Edo state without due accreditation. It would henceforth be offence for anybody or business concern to patronize an unregistered waste manager. Some of these unregistered waste managers were responsible for the creation of the illegal dumpsite at Costain in New Benin which this administration tackled head-on as soon as it came on," he said.
