In view of the health hazard it poses to residents of Apete, Awotan communities in Ido Local Government Area of Oyo state, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Prince Obatunde Oladapo has called for the relocation of Awotan dumpsite.
Oladapo, in a chat with Mega Icon Magazine, noted that despite the fact that the dumpsite was sited in the area long before most buildings were constructed by people of the community, it will be inconsiderate and inhuman to expect the people to be relocated from the area because of the dumpsite. He, therefore, in order to preserve the health and well-being of the people, advised Governor Seyi Makinde to order for the immediate removal and relocation of the dumpsite.
The former Executive Secretary, Oyo State Agency for the Control of Aids (OYSACA) and the State House of Assembly candidate for Ido state constituency in the 2019 poll, Oladapo stressed that any serious government with a genuine interest of the people at heart would take cognisance of the fact that the real problem at Awotan is not the encroachment of the dumpsite by buildings but the health hazard being posed by the presence of the dumpsite in the vicinity of human habitation.
According to him, “the putrid smell of the water oozing from the dumpsite and seepage of the dirty water to the road during the rainy season as well as choking smoke from the dumpsite during the dry season makes it not just a big source of inconvenience for the people of the community but a huge source of health challenges occasioning serious communicable and non-communicable diseases for the people of the community.
“If the state government is serious about finding a lasting solution to the hazards posed by the dumpsite to the health and well-being of the people of Awotan Community, it should relocate the dumpsite to another location away from human habitation.
“After this, the government may then consider alternative uses to which they can put the dumpsite. They can borrow a leaf from the productive use of the old dumpsite at Ring Road which is where the Palms Shopping Mall is today. This is common sense. Unfortunately, common sense is not a common commodity”, he submitted.
