The Calabar Urban Development Authority has assured residents that the city of Calabar has returned to its clean and green status following a brief resurgence of refuse across parts of the metropolis NEGROIDHAVEN has garnered.
The Executive Secretary of the agency, Aye Etim Effiong Asi, gave the assurance on Wednesday while speaking to journalists after conducting a sanitation inspection tour across several areas of the city.
Asi said the recent accumulation of refuse, which triggered public concern among residents, was largely due to mechanical challenges affecting waste evacuation equipment and operational bottlenecks at the dump site.
“Within this time last week, we noticed that there was refuse here and there, and it became a thing of worry to citizens that the city was beginning to become dirty again,” he said.
According to him, the situation was temporary and had since been addressed through intensified evacuation efforts and operational adjustments by the authority and its contractors.
He said the decision to take journalists around the city was to enable them verify the current sanitation status for themselves.
“I wanted you to see things for yourself so that you can also tell the citizens the current situation. For sure, Calabar is back to its green and clean aesthetics,” Asi stated.
Wear and Tear…
The CUDA boss explained that waste evacuation in the city is fully mechanised, relying on heavy equipment such as payloaders, trucks and excavators.
He noted that some of the machines had become old and experienced wear and tear, leading to temporary disruptions in evacuation activities.
“For the past two years we did not have this kind of issue. But because the machines are getting old, there was a breakdown which created a backlog of refuse,” he said.
He further disclosed that a breakdown at the dump site prevented trucks from offloading waste for about two days, worsening the backlog within the city.
“As soon as the dump site cannot absorb what is coming from the city, there will definitely be some accumulation of refuse,” he explained.
To address the challenge, Asi said the authority adopted a zonal evacuation strategy, dividing the metropolis into four operational units to enable faster waste clearance.
“We used a vertical approach by dividing the city into zones and tackling them one after the other. Now we have moved through the units and are currently in the maintenance stage,” he added.
Recalcitrant citizenry…
He also attributed part of the waste management challenge to residents’ failure to comply with designated dumping hours.
According to him, refuse is expected to be disposed of between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. to enable effective night evacuation by contractors.
However, he lamented that many residents dump refuse outside the approved timeframe, thereby creating sanitation problems in some areas.
Scavengers wahala…
Asi further blamed scavengers for scattering waste around disposal bins while searching for recyclable materials.
“Any little thing that is kept inside the bins, scavengers remove them and keep them on the ground while searching for what they want. That contributes to litter around the bins,” he said.
Gov Otu Dissatisfied…
Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the Governor of Cross River State on General Duties, Ekpenyong Akiba, said the state government was dissatisfied with the recent sanitation situation and had directed immediate intervention.
Akiba said the governor had ordered relevant agencies to ensure that the city regained its reputation for cleanliness.
“His Excellency is very unhappy about the situation and directed that there should be no more refuse on the streets of Calabar,” he said.
He added that investigations revealed a combination of factors behind the refuse build-up, including equipment challenges, activities of scavengers and operational issues at the dump site.
Akiba, however, commended sanitation authorities for the swift response which he said had restored cleanliness across the city.
“The city is clean and green once again and we have assurances that the situation will not repeat itself,” he said.
He also urged residents to take greater responsibility in maintaining environmental sanitation by adhering to approved dumping hours and avoiding indiscriminate disposal of waste.
Akiba disclosed that a task force had been deployed to monitor sanitation compliance while the state’s ban on scrap operations remained in force to curb scavenger activities.
According to him, residents can also report overflowing waste bins through designated call lines to enable prompt evacuation by contractors.
