Abuja stinks as green areas are used as toilet
Ayoung woman covers her nose as she spits on the pavement by the Berger Roundabout bus stop on the Wuse-Berger road. The stench from the green area down the slope on the right hand side of the bus stop was unbearable.
“In fact waiting here is becoming impossible due to the odour from the faeces in the green area down there. After it rains and the sun’s heat spreads, sitting or just walking past here is unbearable due to the odour from the human waste in the green area,” the woman who gave her name as Mummy Success, said.
Some residents of federal capital city decried the lack of toilets which would helped in keeping environment clean healthy.
They said it was ironic that the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) would chase hawkers all around the city in the name of keeping it clean but has not thought about providing public conveniences.
A petty trader known only as Mrs. Blessing said the residents go to the bush to defecate openly as there were no public toilets around the bus stops.
“I, like every other person here, use the green area as the have public have the and toilet, because of lack public toilet facility in vicinity.
“The FCT Administration should provide toilets, even if it requires us paying before using them. That will go a long way in making the environment clean and healthy for the nation’s capital,” she said.
Berger Roundabout is a major terminal in the city where commuters alight and proceed to other districts in the Federal Capital Territory. As a result, it is always swarming with people coming into the city or exiting it.
Mummy Success lamented the negative consequences of the situation on their petty trading, saying they of the often suffered low patronage because customers could not bear to stay long at the bus stop due to the stench from the faeces.
Our reporters observed that a similar situation obtains opposite Jabi Park, on the Obafemi Awolowo Way. The bush patch of land in front of Rock of Ages Mall has become a public convenience.
Residents who alight from taxis at Jabi Park bus stop would always cover their noses, hold their breath and spit on the ground as they hurriedly passed by. The walkway has been littered with faeces and walking there has become impossible.
“It is unfortunate that Jabi will look this dirty. This is a major bus stop in the city and nobody is bothered that people defecate just by the sidewalk,” Jimoh Adam said, as he spat in disgust on the ground.
He advised the FCTA to focus more on waste management than chasing petty traders about, in the name of ridding the city of nuisance.
“Seeing faeces here by the sidewalk is more of an eyesore to me than seeing a young chap hawking sachet water by the roadside. Besides, the stench that assails your nose when you walk past such places can choke or force one to through up,” he said.