Some residents of Calabar have
urged the state government to evacuate the heaps of refuse littering the streets in the state capital.
They made the call in separate interviews with newsmen in Calabar.
The residents said that evacuation of refuse had become imperative for the city to regain its clean and green status.
An electrician, Mr Emmanuel Ekpenyong, said that a lot of places in the metropolis were dirty because of non-evacuation of the refuse.
Ekpenyong said: “If you go to a place such as Watt Market, you can see heaps of refuse. The resurfacing of these heaps of refuse are worrisome.
“Some other areas in Calabar South are also very untidy. So, I believe that the government should increase the tempo in the refuse evacuation and disposal.’’
According to him, government’s use of “direct labour” in refuse disposal in the city is not yielding the much-desired results.
A fashion designer, in Mile 8 Area, Mrs Maria Adie, decried the irregular evacuation of refuse in the area since the new administration assumed office.
“When the new governor announced that refuse would be evacuated in the night, we were happy because we presumed that everywhere would be clean and dry.
“But for some time now, you will see heaps of refuse littering everywhere and it takes some days, and sometimes weeks, before they are cleared.
“I think it is not good. Government should do something to change this situation,” Adie said.
A taxi driver, Mr Sunday Daniel, also decried the presence of refuse heaps in some parts of the city, describing it as worrisome.
Daniel noted that the present situation was unexpected because Calabar is a tourism destination, stressing that areas such as Calabar South needed some urgent attention.
Reacting to the situation, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor, Mr Christian Ita, said the state government was reforming its waste collection and disposal system to make it more effective.
Ita, while admitting that there was dirt in some streets of Calabar, said however, that “generally the state remained clean and green’’.
“It may interest you to know that the current administration is reforming its waste collection and disposal approach.
“The administration is seeking to remove bins from the streets and replace them with home bins; this is to ensure that no heaps are found anywhere in the city,” Ita said.