Rock Blasting: Abuja Residents Decry Use Of Dynamite

Residents of some es
tates in Abuja have urged  Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) to prevail on quarry companies to desist from using dynamite to blast rocks in their area.
The affected estates are Aco Estate, Kuyhami, Gosa Primary, Gosa Borehole and Sabon-Lugbe.
The residents said that the activities of the companies was detrimental to their buildings and health.
Mrs Happy Ukachukwu, a resident of Aco Estate, told journalists that each time the blast occurred, her mind always went to bomb blast.
Ukachukwu said she always feared that her building  might collapse because of the vibration to the foundation of the house.
“The shaking was too much that I had to run outside thinking that the building wanted to collapse.
“It was on getting to outside that I noticed that other residents around also experienced the same thing,’’ she said.
Another resident of the estate, Mr Kenneth Ebhotemen, said that the vibrations damaged his building early this year.
“Anytime I hear the sound, my mind will go to bomb blast; honestly, I do not like the sound despite the fact that my house is very far from the quarry site.
“My windows have broken several times, it is no more a new occurrence to me and my household, we are used to the blasting; I just have to live with it for now,’’ he said.
Mr Salisu Dan-Sokoto of Kuyhami, told newsmen that he had never lived near a quarry site until he came to Abuja.
He said that anytime he heard the sound and the vibrations, he felt insecure as if the building would be swallowed up by the earth.
“I have replaced the ceiling and windows of my house several times, bearing the consequences of the problem I did not cause, ‘’ he said.
Dan-Sokoto added that the heavy trucks of the quarry companies that damaged  the only entrance road constructed by the community.
Meanwhile, Mr Adekunle Oguntokun, the leader of the Yoruba community in Gosa Primary,  appealed to AMAC to caution these companies against the use of dynamite, adding that it was  an archaic way of blasting rocks.
“AMAC should enforce the use of new technology for smarter blasting  which is noiseless, smokeless and environment-friendly,’’ he said.
All efforts to obtain comments from the quarry companies failed as they declined to speak to our correspondent.