Epidemic looms in Anambra as refuse dumps, bloated corpses litter streets

By Our health correspondent

Heaps of refuse covered most of the major roads and streets in Onitsha, Nnewi, Awka and some parts of Oba in Anambra State.

The development has forced motorists and pedestrians to struggle to move on the some roads in the state while covering their nostrils.

The situation on both ends of Oguta Road, Onitsha, has become an eyesore as refuse has taken over almost half of the road.

The situation was similar on the surrounding walls of a missionary school at the Upper Iweka end of the road, Old Cemetery, New Cemetery, MCC and New Market roads of Onitsha as well as Court Road, Okpunoegbu Umudim, Nnewi, and also the River Niger bridgehead of Upper Iweka, as refuse dumps encroached badly on those roads, causing slow vehicular and pedestrian movements as well as extending travel time.

Scavengers were seen using their bare hands to search for items of interest to them in the refuse.

Our correspondent also sighted some bloated corpses lying at the Boromeo Junction on the Onitsha-Awka Road and Obinagu area of Awka, the state capital, oozing out a dangerous smell.

A tricycle operator, Mr Ifeanyi Ozumba, told our correspondent that the relevant authorities had refused to clear the refuse off the roads as and when due.

Ozumba said, “The cost of transportation and time spent on the roads have increased drastically because of these refuse dumps. It is making motoring difficult by causing unwarranted delays.”

Efforts to speak to the Commissioner for Health, Vincent Okpala, proved abortive as he did not take his calls nor reply to the text messages sent to his phone.

However, a medical expert from Chukwuemeka Odumegwu- Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital in Igbariam, Mrs Ifeoma Kalu, warned that an epidemic was looming in the state if the situation continued, lamenting that it only suggested that the public health department was not effective in the state.

She said“People inhaling the smell of refuse dumps and also the people parking the refuse with bare hands is an invitation to an epidemic in the state and I think this is where the disease control department would have to do a lot of work. I live near the Boromeo area where a corpse has been lying and smelling profusely.

“The smell is quite unbearable and portends a lot of danger to the people living around the area. Regrettably, the corpse has been allowed to bloat. As a human body decomposes, different types of gases are expelled from the remains into the air and the consequences on anyone that inhales it is very dangerous.

“Decomposing human remains present what is known as a biohazard and it is particularly dangerous to the environment. As it is now, the evacuation of the corpse must be handled by experts who will need to fumigate the place first, otherwise, it will be another looming health disaster,” she said.