Filthy Condition Of Aba Worries Residents

Residents of Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State,  have expressed concern over the filthy
condition of the city and its possible health hazard.

Some of the residents expressed concern over the unhygienic
condition of the commercial city as mountains of rubbish littered the
environment.

Mr James Onuka appealed to Gov. Theodore Orji to reprimand
those responsible for the situation, adding that further delay in sanitising
the environment might be catastrophic.

Onuka called on the chairmen of the Aba North and Aba South
local government areas as well as the General Manager of Abia State
Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) to be alive to their statutory
responsibilities.

He noted that the filthy state of the city had not changed
for a long time, adding that the rains had worsened the situation.

“There is nothing to show for the several arbitrary levies
imposed on residents of the city towards ensuring a healthy environment,” he
said.

Another respondent, Mr Onwuka Eke, noted that heaps of
refuse packed by roads sides two weeks ago after a clean-up exercise had not
been evacuated.

“We heard they are trying to levy us to remove the dirt
scooped from the drains over two weeks ago. “At the same time, they are sending
us demand notices to pay ASEPA fees or go to jail; yet the city is filled with
filth. “I think most of us have chosen the latter option should things continue
to go this way,’’ Eke, a trader, said.

He said it was the responsibility of the local government to
de-silt the drains and cart away the rubbish.

“But it is a shame that more than two weeks after the drains
were de-silted, the rubbish from there are still lying on the road sides.”

Eke expressed concern over the state government’s recent
directive to council chairmen and revenue generating agencies to harmonise
taxes levied residents of the city, while urging those concerned to
painstakingly carry out the directive.

Orji last week berated the council chairmen of Aba North and
Aba South local governments over their inability to clean up the city and shore
up the revenue base of the state.

He ordered them to stop demanding unauthorised and
indiscriminate taxes and levies from traders at the Ariaria International
Market.