How Sustainable Is Waste Management In Enugu?

When Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State unfolded his four cardinal objectives as he assumed office, one of them was aimed at ensuring the cleanliness of the major cities of the state.

  Since the inception of the administration, there have been concerted efforts to achieve sustainable waste management in the state.

The efforts culminated in the establishment of the Enugu State Waste Management Agency (ESWAMA) in 2004.

The agency was set up to replace the defunct Enugu State Environmental Protection Agency (ENSEPA), which failed to meet the challenges of modern day waste management.

ESWAMA was originally placed under the Ministry of Environmental and Solid Minerals but that arrangement was altered and the agency now operates under the aegis of the Enugu State Capital Development Authority.

Speaking on the adjustment, Mr. John Egbo, the Commissioner for Enugu Capital Territory, said that ESWAMA was repositioned to enable it to give a more focused service delivery.

Egbo pledged that the agency would be strengthened to restore the past glory of Enugu as a very clean city through sound waste management.

ESWAMA was established to develop and implement policies on the management of solid and liquid wastes that would promote the health and well being of the people.

To that end, ESWAMA has the responsibility to ensure effective and efficient collection, removal, treatment and disposal of all kinds of waste.

It also has a mandate to check the illegal dumping of refuse at roadsides, enclosures, streams in neighbourhoods and in drains.

The agency is further empowered to prosecute defaulters of sanitation laws, while providing waste management facilities.

The state’s sanitation laws compel residents to cooperate with ESWAMA in efforts to keep the environment clean. This they are required to do by cleaning up their environment, bagging wastes and disposing them at nearby designated dumpsites.

The residents are also required to pay approved sanitation rates through designated banks in various zones, when presented with demand notices.

One good thing about the whole arrangement, observers say, is that ESWAMA could sue and be sued in competent courts over cases of disagreements in line with the laws.

All the same, observers still question the ability of ESWAMA to achieve its set objectives.

Mr. Emeka Okereke, the Director-General of Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), believes that ESWAMA has been able to justify its relevance.

“The agency under its former Managing Director, Mr. Greg Anyaegbudike, achieved some appreciable results in efforts to return Enugu to its former glory through prompt clearing of wastes.

“Indeed, within a period of two years, ESWAMA was able to transform the Enugu metropolis into one of the cleanest state capitals in the country,’’ he says

Okereke adds: “This no doubt impressed the last FIFA delegation to Nigeria that was led by Jack Warner.’’

The ECCIMA chief quoted Warner as saying that he was impressed with the sanitary conditions of Enugu, as he pledged to select the city as one of the venues for the World Cup matches.

The man was not alone in commending ESWAMA for its service delivery, as many others had lauded the agency for its plans to establish a waste recycling plant, among other innovative measures.

According to Okereke, “the waste recycling project, however, died soon after Anyaegbudike’s removal from office as ESWAMA’s boss.”

Other concerned residents lamented that major streets in the Enugu metropolis are now defaced by refuse heaps.

Though Mrs Chinyere Ogakwu, a former Special Adviser on Environment to the state Chief Executive now heads the agency, there is cautious optimism that the situation would improve.

The Enugu State chapter of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) wants ESWAMA to be more responsive to its challenges.

Its Chairman, Osmond Ugwu, demands more transparency and judicious use of resources on the part of the agency, so as to enhance its efficiency.

One thing is, however, clear: waste management is an expensive venture but it is also a money-spinner, if well managed.

Analysts desire that the state government should invest in the establishment of a waste recycling plant because of its revenue-generation potential and relevance to the sanitation needs of the state.

Onuchukwu writes for NAN.

Obini Onuchukwu