Residents of School bus-stop, Abesan Estate, decry state of environment

 

RESIDENTS of the School Bus-Stop, Abesan Estate, Lagos State have decried the state of the environment as the bus stop and its environment have been turned into a site for dumping waste.

 

 

 

 

When AlimoshoToday visited the community, the sight was an eyesore, as refuse were heaped at the bus stop and down the street.

A shop owner, who sells gas directly opposite the refuse dump, lamented that people who are not residents of the Estate come to the school bus-stop to dump the refuse.

He said: "I don't know if people are shying away from paying LAWMA fees. This refuse has been a means of daily activity for them, a  daily routine.

"It is not only residents in Abesan Estate that dump their refuse here; people from Ipaja, Ayobo, Command, in their vehicles, will just come here and pour the dirt there. The thing is just spreading everywhere.

"I am afraid of my health because this is my shop. There is no way I can leave here. This is where I make my ends meet. You can see our table, we pack this refuse every day but once breeze is blowing, it blows the dirt into the gutter, so you start packing again. This thing was not here before, it started around May that they started desilting this our road. So they dropped the dirt they packed from the drainage and since then, they started dumping refuse there.

A vendor who sells drinks said that LAWMA officials do pack the refuse but then, by the next day, people would have drooped more refuse.

In her words: "I wish there is a way the government can help in packing the dirt away.

"It is affecting this place, especially where we do our business. When we get hungry, we won't be able to eat because of the flies.

"Outsiders, people who have just alighted from commercial buses, when passing by, dump their refuse here, some from the bus window, while some will park their cars to throw the refuse away.

"LAWMA people do come to pack it, but then, before the next day, people would have dropped more refuse.

"Whenever we see anyone, we do confront them and ask them to pack the dirt back into their trash cans or cars."

Another resident who owns a beauty salon lamented that the state of the environment has been affecting his business.

"The waste over there has been there since May. The government has not seen anything to do about it and it has been affecting our business as well, causing pollution and you can see the gutters, too, they are not well kept. They are dirty as a result of the waste.

"We are trying our best. I pack this gutter almost two times in a week."