Amaechi & The Politics Of Sanitation
In Philippine, 2008 has been declared as the National Year of
Sanitation. This is through a Presidential Proclamation, Tacloban City
(10 March) -- Centered on the theme "Sanitasyon ang Solusyon".
Paramountly, the initiative based on the United Nations General Assembly
declaring 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation. The Department of Health - Eastern Visayas (DOH-EV), spearheads the
promotional and advocacy activities. It ebulliently works together with
other national government agencies, to curb the nation of poor
sanitation.
From Marissa Nicolasora, DOH-EV Information Officer, it was gathered
that the national launching was held at the Mandaluyong City Hall, and
the affair was graced by its Mayor Bayani Abalos, DOH Secretary
Francisco T. Duque III, and Sec. Lito Atienza of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources.
One of the activities, during this period, that was identified and to be
implemented by the National Center for Health Development in
coordination with the Local Government Units, is the National Search for
the Barangay with Best Sanitation Practices.
Meanwhile, DOH advises that priority should be given to practice of
proper sanitation. This was in order, according to reports, to avoid
being infected with preventable diseases, such as diarrhea. This claims
thousands of lives each day especially children.
While in China there is heightened pressure on polluters. There is
legislation that allows for stiff fines against heads of companies that
foul its scarce water resources. The Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law, which were passed ahead
of the annual full session of China's parliament, or National People's
Congress, will take effect on June 1, the official Xinhua news agency
reported.
"Enterprise heads directly responsible for causing severe water
pollution incidents and others with direct responsibility would be fined
up to half of their income in the previous year," the law states.
But previously, it was only the executives that faced disciplinary
action. But now the issue of supply conservation in China has taken on
greater urgency. The government struggles to curtail the environmental
consequences of its hurried economic growth.
It is no longer news that the country periodically faces spills into
rivers. And this result in drinking water supplies being cut off. This
was most seriously in 2005. That was when an explosion at an industrial
plant sent toxic chemicals streaming into the Songhua river in China's
northeast.
According to reports, excreta from fertilizer use, industrial waste and
untreated sewage also caused a foul-smelling algae bloom on a lake in
the southern province of Jiangsu last year that left tap water
undrinkable in a city of more than 2 million polluted.
While records from these climes echoes to the West-End, Nigeria joined
other nations March 22, 2008, to flag off its own International Year of
Sanitation and mark the World Water Day. This is observed as World Water
Day. This year's theme was "Sanitation matters." Unlike in Philippine it
was "Sanitasyon ang Solusyon". There was belief among the stakeholders
that the programme would provide a unique opportunity; and it would
create awareness at national and sub-national levels on issues related
to sanitation development.
According to sources, the goal is to speed up progress towards the UN's
MDG target to halve, by 2015, the share of the 2.6 billion people around
the world with no access to basic sanitation. Other objectives of the year
are to increase awareness on hygiene promotion, water quality and
wastewater treatment.
The government was reportedly, has adopted its International Year of
Sanitation Action Plan through a participatory process with three key
targets as to develop enabling environments to sustainably expand
sanitation and hygiene programmes, build one million latrines, and conduct
hand-washing campaigns at the federal level, all states and in all local
governments.
During this period it was gathered that a UNICEF Representative in Nigeria
said, "Based on the 2006 UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Programme report on
sanitation in Nigeria, there is a slight increase in the access to
sanitation in the country between 1990 and 2004. However, over 70 million
people are still without basic sanitation and with present trend it might
be difficult to achieve the MDG sanitation target.
"Children under five are most vulnerable to the effects of insufficient
sanitation and hygiene. Every year, an estimated 150,000 deaths mainly
amongst fewer than five children occur annually due to diarrhea caused by
poor sanitation and hygiene practices.
“Diarrhea is closely linked to poor nutrition, a condition that is
associated with more than half of all under-five deaths. The immune
system of undernourished children is compromised and they are at higher
risk for developing pneumonia, which also contributes to high children
mortality in the country. This chain reaction illustrates that hygiene
and sanitation are fundamental for child survival and development."
The report succinctly stated that UNICEF believes that improving excreta
disposal can decrease diarrhea rates by 35 per cent and hand washing with
soap at critical times can decrease diarrhea by over 47 per cent.
Buttressing further, the reports said, Minister of Agriculture and Water
Resources, Alhaji Sayyadi Abba Ruma, agreed that with this situation that
an estimated population of over 140million, of more than 50 per cent who
live in the rural areas, the progress of meeting the Millennium
Development Goals in this sub-sector and its implication for the
achievement of other Millennium Goals in other sub-sectors is challenging.
"Such improvements save children's lives and improve the quality of
their living environment. In addition to lowering the rates of diarrhea,
improved excreta disposal and hand washing will have significant impact
on parasitic infections, worm infestations and trachoma that are the
leading causes of blindness in the world….Most exciting however is
recent research, which indicates that hand, washing with soap may also
have a significant effect on the reduction of Acute Respiratory
Infections (ARI). Preliminary findings indicate that this may be as much
as 40 per cent."
In Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, gone are not the days when
one will enter a bus under Isaac Boro Park and hit Eleme Junction without
an eyesore of filths littered everywhere. A lot of people describe such
indiscriminate liter of filths now in Port Harcourt as unbearable. One
wonders when Port Harcourt began to be the city known for dirtiness. Don’t
mention traffic jam here! Traffic jam could be blamed on the increasing
car ownership in the state? What about roads in Port Harcourt? Blame that
on the poor or lack of good governance of the past governments in the
State. While we watch the administration of Governor Chibuike Amaechi.
Won’t Nigerians say this is one of such in the Rivers State
Environmental Sanitation Authority? The authorities in the Port Harcourt
and Obio/Akpor local councils of course should be blamed for the mammoth
level of filths in the State because; these two agencies have not come
up to the occasion to the cheers of the residents.
Visit the council premises and be sorry of cars impounded by the
taskforce filled the whole place. Some are rusting like a decaying
grass. While the owners are not left with without the huge amounts of
money they are to pay. The same is applicable in the Rivers Sanitation
Authority office. Immediately one drives from Aba to Oyigbo junction, or
from Owerri to Elele the picture of Everest refuse becomes the monument
of the city. No one should mention the indiscriminate cars at every
junction in Rivers State with careless motorists picking and dropping
passengers. The picture becomes unappealing. Apart from the menace of
motorists, what about the situation by the activities of hawkers and
streets traders? Walk From the Air Force junction down to Oil Mill
junction and feel the sorry state of the menace of the hawkers. Don’t
tell anyone what you saw at Oil Mill, especially on Wednesdays that is
the market days.
Since assuming office last year Hon. Nnamdi Wokekoro has continued his
bid to rid the city of illegal markets, street trading and now illegal
parking mainly on the pages of the newspapers. Take a walk round Port
Harcourt and you will observe that the environmental agents connive with
the security operatives who allow residents to continue their acts of
illegal refuse dump. But everyday, both the sanitation authority and the
city council commence a fresh campaign to rid the city of dirt. No new
drive seems to have come from the change of leadership in the two
agencies, except deceit. The only new drive Hon. Nnamdi Wokekoro has
brought to the activities of the sanitation agency is his incessant
crusade on the radio without work seen is done.
Orderliness of refuse disposal has not returned in the State, except at
the Government House axis of Port Harcourt where Wokekoro placed bills
numbering more than the users, perhaps for Governor Amaechi to see the
deceitful work on sanitation in the State which does not meet the eyes.
Go to Trans-Amadi, moving into Garrison Juction to D-line through the
NITEL route, is a sorry tale. Apart from that the traders in front of
the NITEL complex have been driven inwards, dirt encompasses as if
competing for any Nobel Prizes.
An observer ones noted and said, “Though in the day time the area seems
to have respite, in the night period it is chaotic.” What about the
hiccup around Rumuola-Waterline axis? Can Wokekoro say it seems to come
from activities of transport companies along Olu-Obasanjo Road? Or can
any blame the situation on the youths of the area who come to demand‘marching ground’ fee from everywhere?
Even at the Presidential Hotel’s junction, when people thought that the
chaos there has been clearly removed, began the new episode. The
nuisance created by the Bureau de-change dealers have not been totally
cleared. Even as a little garden has been erected in where commercial
phone operators and moneychangers held sway, what happens to the control
of the people? Nothing. Don’t go down to Bori Camp junction, as
motorists pick passengers carelessly even in front of the military
barracks? Do army take bribe from the culprits? Your guess is as good as
mine. Not even the companies hiring heavy-duty vehicles expected would
be evacuated from Port Harcourt metropolis have gotten the warning note
of Wokekoro-led sanitation agency and let it assimilate in them.
Apart from the Rivers State Environmental Sanitation Authority opened a
new frontline last time by declaring parking of heavy duty vehicles
along major roads unlawful, take a walk round Port Harcourt and see for
yourself that that initiative died as soon as people read it on the
pages of the newspapers. The agency hinged the hope of the residents by
enforcing the order by moving round the city with towing vehicles to
apprehend offenders, but residents knew that that order was only an eye
service. By the new order, all heavy-duty vehicles are expected to park
in designated areas, but they still park in the undesignated areas. What
happens to the moral question of this sanitation agency?
The chairman of RSESA Chief Nnamdi Wokekoro can only warn owners of such
heavy duty vehicles in Port Harcourt, especially at Mile 3 area to
remove them within 24 hours, while gulping drinks in the cozy 5-star
hotels in the city? Activities to clear the city’s drainage system have
commenced, but no work has been seen done. Take a walk when it was
raining and see how ‘pure-water’ packs do not allow the struggling flood
have their ways in the drainages.
Much drainage in the city has been cleared and majority of the drainages
have been recently blocked by filths. Don’t go to the drainage system at
Azikiwe Road and Town, they are irritants. Has the exercise been carried
out deeply in flood flat areas of Diobu, D-line and Ikwerre Road? Has
residents not expressed displeasure over the shoddy work done at Ede
Street in Ogbunabali? A Street in the village of Nnamdi Wokekoro.
What was the residents’ sadness? Was it not because the filths cleared
from the gutters are not evacuated immediately, or after, and they fall
back into the cleared drain again? Who is speaking for other areas
outside Port Harcourt city? Who said that, Government come and goes but
the task force remains? More million naira or dollars are needed to keep
Port Harcourt clean. But as a warning note, more hospitals are needed to
admit people in this International Year of Sanitation, especially in
Rivers State because of poor sanitation by RSESA.
By Odimegwu Onwumere
Onwumere, Poet and Author and Founder,
Poet Against Child Abuse.
Rivers State. +2348032552855