An observable trend in mega cities is the healthiness of the environment.

Governments of such cities ensure the hygiene and wholeness of these societies usually metes out appropriate measures. Lagos as a mega city has not been left out of this chase for cleanliness.

First, it was the mandatory environmental sanitation exercise for all in the state every last Saturday. Over time, environmental sanitation became compulsory for traders and market women every Thursday of the week.

Next was the PSP scheme under LAWMA and presently the Cleaner Lagos initiative (CLI), all in a bid to make Lagos clean. However, despite all the efforts of both government and private individuals in ensuring a cleaner and safer state, Lagos is unfortunately not getting any tidier.

From observations, on the streets of Lagos are chunks of dirt spilling out of the rubbish bins provided by the state government. The entrance into people’s homes also has its share of the eyesore as heaps of dumps have become persistently present as flies and worms have a field day on the cans.

At virtually every bus stop in the state now are sacks of dirt, piled up, while some particles escape the tied orifices thereby providing offensive odour to passers-by, who are left with no option than to block the passage of such decayed air into their nasal system with their palms.

This, according to some residents, is as a result of the minimal visit of the PSP trucks to the areas. New Telegraph observed heap of wastes under the bridge at Iyana Ipaja, with little or no attention showed towards getting them cleared any time soon.

This ugly and foul smelly sight has rendered the environment inimical to the health of traders, who sell under the bridge and air borne diseases could be contacted through inhaling the odour that oozes from the waste bins stationed underneath the bridge. A respondent, Mrs. Aminat Adegoke, who sells pepper under the bridge shared her view with New Telegraph.

“The refuse is so much that it falls out of the trash bin and litter the floor.

The smell from the bin is so terrible that I often go to a friend’s shop opposite mine to take some fresh air in. Because I sell by the road, I can’t eat here. The flies are too much that they wrestle my food with me. So, I go inside my friend’s shop to eat.

Even the flies perch on what I sell but I know people will wash it before cooking. Some will not even branch to buy” she said. Mrs. Adegoke disclosed that she has been selling at Iyana Ipaja for seven years and that the big LAWMA waste bin was formerly positioned inside the Iyana Ipaja motor park but after the demise of the former Chairman of the National Union Of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Lagos State Chapter, Alhaji Saka Saula, it was moved to the under bridge.

Mrs. Temitope Alabi, who sells SIM cards and recharge cards under the bridge, said: “Personally, I am not comfortable with the level of dirt here.

Every morning, I sell my things close to the road but because of the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) task force around, I had to move back exactly beside the wastes, so that I won’t be harassed because there is no money for me to rent a shop. Initially, the big LAWMA bin here is meant for the market people only but we see some unknown residents probably coming from other streets near the road throwing dirty anyhow around the bin.”

She added that the refuse is disgusting and has been of disadvantage to her business as people sometimes do not have the patience to wait around to register SIM cards. Meanwhile, it is a profit making avenue for others. “I know a particular woman who comes here to pick something like papers but I never asked what she used them for, as it was not my business.

Some ‘ABOKI’ also scatter the refuse and sometimes enter the bin to pick some things valuable to them into their sacks” she added. She suggested that more waste bins be given to residents that do not have so that they would stop bringing their dirt under the bridge and the LAWMA should try to reach Iyana Ipaja twice a week.

Mr. Alaba Oguntade and Miss Bose, who jointly sell mobile phones on promo, advertised in the trunk of their vehicle under the bridge, said that the refuse had been left unattended to by the LAWMA since last year. They claimed that the refuse does not affect their market but affects them health wise. Mr. Alaba complained about always having a relapse of malaria.

Asking about how they coped and ate, they responded simultaneously “we just have to cope”.

They said they were used to the environment even though the odour worsens day-by-day. Miss Bose added that whenever they bought food and had to eat, they went inside the vehicle to eat to reduce the exposure of the food to the atmosphere.

On the other side of the under bridge, which has a bus shed labelled ‘Iyana Ipaja bus stop’, refuse was also scattered at the bus stop.

New Telegraph