To commemorate the World CleanUp Day, Ecocykle organized a community outreach on effective waste management practices in upstream and downstream areas at Koroduma Community in Nasarawa State, Nigeria.
This outreach was organized to help amplify voiced of vulnerable communities who lack adequate waste management systems and are exposed to devastating impacts of flooding as a result of indiscriminate waste disposal.
During the outreach, residents in these neighborhoods described how indiscriminate waste disposal is posing a life-threatening hazard to their community because it directly affects their health and safety.
A resident who was interviewed voiced his concern with how trash from neighboring communities is dumped in nearby rivers. He also mentioned that the riverside has turned into a garbage dump for informal waste collectors.
In an interview with other residents of the community, they expressed worry over the state of their environment and fear that their homes might collapse in the nearest future if they do not get an urgent intervention. From their statement, this situation is caused due to constant dumping of refuse into the river channel, hence large flowing water find it’s way close to nearby hills and this result to continuous erosion activity which has eroded deep soils and consequently, threatening their settlements.
Finally, members of the community including children all gathered to carry out a rally demanding that indiscriminate waste dumping should be stopped henceforth. They also appeal to the general public, concerned individuals and global community for urgent assistance to enable them build a bridge and retaining walls, this they say will help them to combat threats of flooding which they are currently facing.
Click link to watch full video https://youtu.be/KJERuZv8RUw
By
Aliyu Sadiq
18/09/2021
