Refuse trucks cause nuisance at Oregun

Residents of Olusosun, in the Oregun area of Lagos have expressed worry over the presence of long queues of refuse collection trucks in the area and the danger they posed to their health.

The refuse trucks regularly queue to dispose waste at the Olusosun dump site located within the vicinity. The queue, which can stretch for more than one kilometre along the Kudirat Abiola Road and the adjoining Abayomi Adelaja Drive, is making the residents agitated.

Udoji Obalum, who sells car batteries in one of the roadside shops on Kudirat Abiola Road said the odour from the trucks makes him uncomfortable. The smell also and drive away prospective customers.

“It’s very bad to have this kind of thing where people are staying. It’s affecting our health. There is no way you can stay here and not fall sick because the odour is too much,” Mr. Obalum said.

Getting use to the foul odour

“If they can take it (dump site) to another place, it will help us,” said Esther Orok, who runs a local canteen in the area. She said she and her customers have gotten used to the smell.

“We are used to it. It has been like this for a long time. There is nothing we can do about it. It is the government that gave them approval and government is aware of it, so we are just managing.

“For me, the thing does not disturb much. I just come here to sell, when I finish, I go to my house. It is the people who live in this area that are suffering it,” she added.

Peter Iwezu, a resident said the trucks do not only emit bad odour, they also cause accidents. “It is affecting us but what can we do about it? The smell has even reduced now. It was worse before when they were using open truck,” Mr. Iwezu said.

“The main problem is that some of the trucks break down by the roadside. Some of them stay there for weeks and sometimes they cause accidents,” he said. The queue also affect free movement as traffic congestion is rampant in the area.

Emeka Ogbu, a commercial bus driver, who plies the Ogba and Ojota route said the trucks disturbs their movement.

“They used to cause go slow (traffic congestion) for us and even when we dey pass, the smell used to disturb us,” Mr. Ogbu said.

Bad road

Ibrahim Useni, a driver of one of the PSP waste trucks said the long queue is as a result of the deplorable state of the road leading into the dump site.

“I have been here since 5 o’clock in the morning, now if you check the time, you see that it is around noon. We have been here for 7 hours now. The problem is the road. Rain has spoilt the road, it takes time before one person will dump the refuse and come out. They should tar this road so that we will just come and dump and go without any problem,” Mr. Useni said.

Another truck driver said the process is also delayed when the machine that shoves and compacts the refuse is not functioning effectively.

Efforts to get the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) to comment on the issue proved abortive, as calls to the managing director’s mobile phone were unanswered.