By Chimaobi Nwaiwu & Chinedu Adonu
Environmental sanitation is showing contrasting outcomes in the South-East, with Enugu recording significant improvements in waste management and cleaner streets, while Onitsha is witnessing a gradual reduction in refuse dumps but battling a growing challenge of open defecation.
In Onitsha, Anambra State, refuse dump sites that once littered major roads and streets are gradually disappearing, largely due to residents adopting alternative means of disposing of their waste rather than improvements in government waste management.
Many residents now reportedly pool resources to pay private individuals to evacuate refuse, a move aimed at avoiding the inefficiencies of government-appointed waste disposal contractors and the activities of revenue agents who collect sanitation levies.
Some residents, however, continue to dispose of refuse in drainage channels, a practice that environmental observers warn could worsen flooding and other public health risks.
