The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Plateau branch, has expressed concern that uncleared refuse heaps on major streets in the Jos-Bukuru metropolis posed a threat to public health.
The branch Chairman, Dr. Bapiga’an Audu, said this to the media on Thursday in Jos.
Audu said the refuse served as a breeding site for vectors and rodents that transmitted diseases to humans.
” This refuse heaps serves as an abode for vectors such as houseflies, mosquitoes, and rodents such as rats that transmits various diseases such as gastrointestinal diseases, malaria, and Lassa fever to humans,” he said.
According to him, the refuse heaps also contaminate the underground water and the various water bodies in the Jos-Bukuru metropolis.
He further lamented that the state ranked tops among states with the largest number of open defecation and with the issue of uncleared refuse, which would lead to having more issues of endemic diseases.
Related Articles
The chairman called on the government to prioritize the health of its citizens by ensuring that the waste was cleared.
He advised that the state government could convert the waste to biofuel and recycle those that could not be converted.
Audu said the act would keep the metropolis clean and in turn, create jobs for the youth and increase the state’s Internally Generated Revenue.
General Manager, of Plateau Environmental Protection and Sanitation Agency (PEPSA) Mr. Gabriel Bako, in charge of waste management, attributed the waste heaps to the breakdown of the vehicles used in the waste evacuation.
He said that some of the vehicles had been fixed and waste evacuation had begun.
