Karsana Residents Want Action Against Illegal Dumpsites, Rock Blasting

Residents of Sow Residence Estate in the Karsana District of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have appealed to the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, to shut down illegal dumpsites that have turned their community into an environmental hazard, and to halt the dangerous rock blasting activities threatening life and property in the estate.

In emotional pleas, the community leaders described how their estate had been surrounded by mountains of refuse, with waste collectors setting the dumps ablaze every evening, releasing toxic smoke that forces residents to flee indoors or wear face masks.

Chief Mike Okpere, a longtime resident of Sow Residences Estate, traced the crisis to nearly seven years, revealing that the problem has persisted despite government interventions.

“Over the past six, seven years, a lot of people around Kubwa and the environs turned the Karasana area into a refuse zone,” he said.

According to Okpere, there was a brief moment of hope when the FCT minister awarded a contract to clear refuse during the construction of a road leading to the government’s Renewed Hope Estate. However, the relief was short-lived.

“But recently, what we have found out is that these people have started dumping all across the place, leaving the road that is being done. They have taken over all the areas, and every evening they set it on fire.

“And everybody living in that area will inhale all of the smoke.

It is a health hazard. One, it is unsightly; it is horrible. And then the health hazard for having all the air pollution around where people live,” he said.

Okpere revealed that despite contacting the FCT administration, enforcement had been lacking.

“We have reached out to the FCT administration, and we have the understanding that they have told people not to go there to dump refuse. But they have still continued. There is no arrest. So, people just do as they wish,” he said.

The chairman of Sow Residence Estate, Tunji Ilesanmi, painted a grim picture of daily life for the approximately 200 families in the community.

“Some companies and the Baban-Bolas have turned our environment into illegal dump sites. We have been making an effort. We have written a letter to the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB). We have gone to so many places because of this challenge we are facing,” he said.

Ilesanmi disclosed that authorities admitted lacking resources to address the problem, even suggesting residents should mobilise funds, a proposal he rejected outright.

“Their problem is that they don’t have the funds to implement the control of dumping refuse in this area. There was a time they advised that we could mobilise them. But for us to mobilise those people for many months? It should be the government’s responsibility,” he said.

The health impact, he said, has already forced some families to abandon their homes. “Because of this refuse around the estate, some people have moved out. It is only in the evening that you will understand what we are passing through here.

“So many people, when they are moving, they move out with their face mask. Anybody that is asthmatic cannot stay here in the evening. Because when they are burning the refuse, the smoke will occupy the whole of this estate,” he said.