EKO HOT BLOG reports that despite claiming to be a megacity, Lagos, the so-called “city of excellence,” has nearly all of its marketplaces and streets taken over by trash dumps.
This Online Media gathered that when a source visited several of the well-known market locations, including Balogun, Martins Street, Ajah, and Orile, among others, it was learned that the odor emanating from abandoned garbage heaps nearby shops is having a negative impact on the traders whose stores are next to the waste heaps. Because of the unpleasant smell from the garbage, some of the marketers claimed they have already started stooping and throwing up.
They claim that they have been abandoned by the Lagos Waste Management Authority, or LAWMA, the organization tasked with disposing of waste in the state.
The source speaking to some of the ailing marketers at the popular Martins Street in Balogun, Lagos, they lamented that despite paying their monthly dues to LAWMA regularly, they have refused to play their own part of the bargain. They also expressed fears that if nothing was done urgently, everybody coming into the market may also be affected.
One of the traders, Mrs. Oluwashikemi Oluwadaramola, said: “It’s over two weeks that LAWMA came to pack these wastes. We have called them, made all neccessary moves, yet, they have refused to do their job. We are pleading with them to come and pack all these. It is very dangerous to our health. I have been stooling for the past three days because of the offensive odour from the waste.
They throw all manner of waste in this place, including faeces. This is not good for our health. We are selling our goods here; we don’t have any other source of livelihood.”
Another trader, Mr. Ibeabuchi Ekeh, has this to say: “Just take a look at all these and then walk down the road. This poses a health risk. People are doing their businesses here and, for two weeks, it has been this way. They normally clear it everyday or, at worst, every two days. The major problem we are having here is that the waste is not generated by us; it is in the night that they normally dump it here and, when we arrive in the morning, we find them. This is our business place and we can’t run away from here.”
Similarly, Mrs. Bukola Alawo, also a trader in the market, said: “I have been stooling for the past five days. Lagos State should come and help us to clear all these. This is unfair. The waste has been here for over three weeks; they should not kill us. We pay our LAWMA dues of N500 every month; each shop pays N500 and, if you have two shops, you pay N1000.”
In the same vein, another trader who simply identified himself as Mr. Okey, said: “We don’t have power over this, we have complained a lot and they told us that if we can’t stay, we should go back to our homes.
Not only is the waste already making people ill, it’s causing a lot of traffic inside this market. Some people have stopped coming to the market because of the terrible odour. This has been on for two weeks and two days. You can see maggots and flies coming out from there.
I have my own nose mask and I have been having chest pain for the past five days because of what I have been inhaling from the heaps of waste. A lot of people are already sick.”
Another trader in the same market, Mr. Favour Onyebuchi stated: “We have to stay because we have families. If we don’t sell, we won’t be able to feed them. I have been having chest pain because of the stench. There is even one woman over there that has been stooling and vomiting for some days. It is pathetic.”
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