With the approach of the rainy season, a public health physician, Dr. Chinasa Mathew, has issued a warning urging manufacturing companies, households, and the general public to diligently manage their waste disposal practices to uphold a clean and healthy environment.
Mathew, who works with the Isolo General Hospital, Lagos, advised in an interview on Tuesday in Lagos.
He said that a wide range of diseases could be contracted and spread through an unclean and contaminated environment and surroundings.
He said that proper waste management by companies as well as households could curtail the problem of arbitrary disposal of toxic and solid wastes that pollute the environment.
According to him, improper solid waste disposal causes pollution of air, soil, and water while indiscriminate dumping of waste contaminates surface and groundwater supplies.
“In urban areas, solid waste clogs drains, creating stagnant water for insect breeding and floods during the rainy periods.
“Similarly, uncontrolled burning of solid wastes and improper incineration contributes significantly to urban air pollution,” he said.
The physician noted that the safety of the environment was a collective responsibility of everybody in the society and should not be left to the state government alone.
He explained that waste management involved adequate manpower, equipment and finance to get the job done.
Mathew said there is a need for sensitisation, training and retraining of the environmental workers, companies and households to achieve proper waste management.
He, therefore, called on the Lagos State Waste Management Authority to up its game in ensuring a clean and healthy environment.
He noted that continuous sensitisation, enforcement and maintaining standards would improve people’s attitude toward proper disposal of waste.
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“There is need to start sensitising people at an early age about waste segregation and recycling.
“To safeguard the environment and prevent the spread of diseases, manufacturing industries should look for a way to recycle their wastes because all waste is recyclable.
“Residue should be channelled into the effluent treatment plants where it will be treated and re-used. And this could form an additional source of income.
“Appropriate identification, collection, separation, transportation, treatment, and disposal, as well as other important associated aspects including disinfection, are parts of effective waste management,” he said.
The health expert advised that households should have septic tanks for the waste at the front of their homes.
He emphasised the need for the public to desist from the ugly act of disposing of wastes into the drainage canals, particularly during the period of rainy season.
He also advised households and the general public to obey environmental regulations, to help the government actualise its efforts in ensuring a safe and healthy environment.
NAN
