A day will come when the Administration of Governor Ayade will be sorely missed
In Lagos State people pay between 7 to N200,000 monthly for refuse collection per household depending where you live. Same applies to Abuja and some other municipal towns. Households pay minimal charges to waste collection agents, but in Cross River State the present Ayade administration has carried this burden for 7 years nonstop. One thing people take for granted is waste control and evacuation in the city centre.
At the inception of this Ayade administration we supplied plastic bins and they got converted into water storage for homes. Despite the setback we ordered the second batch, people still converted them to store clothes even after we decided to puncture holes on the waste boxes. We supplied metal bins to households, they were all stolen and auctioned as scrap metals. Same people are crying around now.
Between 1999 and now population in Calabar has grown astronomically by almost 300% coupled with the present Administration\’s benevolence of an expanded government, steady salaries and pensions leading to increase in refuse generation.
If we were owing 6 to 10 months salaries like many other states you would see smaller refuse generation as a result. The rainy seasons too has also been a major challenge.
We battle with salaries and pensions, local and foreign loans, diesel for street lighting, refuse evacuation, kidnapping, communal clashes, robbery and marine security with the lowest net allocation in the country that sometimes comes in zeros or minus (-) figures.
How the Governor Ayade Administration is able to abate these challenges occasioned by increasing population that has almost tripled in the last 15-20 years, yet maintains payment of salaries and pensions is a mystery. Surely, a day will come when this Ayade Administration will be greatly missed.
The idea behind mild waste management levies is deliberately initiated to enable households check/control waste.
NOTE: this PUBLICATION was written by Ansa Ekpenyong
