No fewer than 500,000 residents of Iponri Low-Cost Housing Estate in Surulere, Lagos Mainland, yesterday appealed to the government to save them from a “looming epidemic.”
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the sewage plant that drains dirty water from the soak-away of more than 400 housing units in the estate had been disconnected by Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) because of unpaid bills.
The non-functioning of the plant, they said, had resulted into flooding of the estate by dirty water from the soakaway, causing stench.
Iponri Housing Estate Residents’ Association, President Abdul-Rasak Osho told NAN that the plant constructed by the Lagos State Government is being maintained by the Ministry of the Environment.
He said: “The residents noticed that the sewage plant stopped working about three months ago. We met the engineer-in-charge who told us that the power supply to the plant had been disconnected because the state government is owing EKEDC.
“We bought diesel for them to power the plant but it was exhausted within just five hours. We have appealed to EKEDC to restore the power supply but it said it would not do so until the Lagos State Government pays its debt.
“We bought diesel for them to power the plant but it was exhausted within just five hours. We have appealed to EKEDC to restore the power supply but it said it would not do so until the Lagos State Government pays its debt.
“The sewage plant has been under the government care since we bought flats in this estate and government has not told us that it can no longer maintain it.
“Presently, the dirty water has flooded everywhere in the estate. We cannot even pass some routes now because of the flood,” he said.
Osho appealed to the government to offset the bill so that EKEDC would restore power supply to the sewage plant and safe the estate from impending epidemic.
The association’s Secretary-General, Francis Odukoya, said the group had written several letters to the Ministry of the Environment over the matter.
The government, he said, had not replied.
He said: “We have written about four letters to the Commissioner for the Environment as I am speaking to you now. They built the sewage plant for the estate and they have been servicing it for us for more than 30 years now, they should not relent on their efforts.
“They should come to our rescue before the residents of the estate start to contract diseases because this odour is terrible.”
Mrs Alake Oshodi, a old widow, living in Flat 103, told NAN that one of her granddaughters took ill recently and was admitted in hospital. She blamed the illness on the dirty water and bad odour.
NAN correspondent could not speak with the engineer in charge of the plant because the entrance was locked.
The Nation
The Nation
Comments
Post a Comment