PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROPER MUNICIPAL REFUSE DISPOSAL IN ABAKALIKI URBAN AREA

EBSEPA reports 2010, shows that municipal refuse disposal pattern is very poor. It is observed that despite presently public enlightenment programs on hygiene and health, Abakaliki urban as a whole seems to be retrogressing in her environmental cleanliness. Dustbins are not emptied regularly in the homes, offices and Market Square. This encourages insects and rodents breeding and spread of diseases.

In the immediate past, the national sanitation exercise instead of leaving the city clean, resulted to heaps of rubbish at various roads and junctions. Today refuse are not collected from homes by agents as required. Refuse are dumped indiscriminately into  gutters and any available space by the populace. The street sweepers are not given adequate supervision  and they are not well informed so they sweep into  gutters thereby blocking drainage. This outflow onto the roads and homes during rain has become injurious and unsightly. 

There is  no placement of giant dustbins at strategic junctions to receive household refuse from the teaming population, old refuse site are no longer  available for individual to dispose  their refuse, therefore, people hide at night and throw refuse   anywhere thereby  causing nuisance in that area.  Even in the  final  disposal site,  the refuse is not adequately treated. This  therefore  provides a good breeding  ground  for bacteria, insects and rodents. Hogs feed freely in the area thereby encouraging  zoonotic disease.  The open dumps give off offensive odour and air pollution, occasional open burning  causes smoke  nuisance and respiratory irritation to the populace. 

The present final dumping site at Enugu-Ogoja road suffers the same fate  because no specific treatment is given to the refuse.

Another  major problem of refuse disposal observed in Abakaliki  urban is the irregular and improper collection  and transportation in open vans. Sometimes these  vans  are overfilled with refuse and as they move along the   roads to the final disposal sites, some of the waste fall out and litter the roads.

Also inadequate resources to work with, and bad  roads have made regular collection of  waste  from the households impossible . This research is carried out to evaluate the municipal refuse disposal patterns in Abakaliki urban.