Give Us Empowerment, Not Garbage Site – Oguede, Coconut Estate Residents Cry Out

Residents of Oguede Community and Coconut Estate have called out the Sole Administrator of Bonny Local Government Area, Kingsley Banigo to reconsider dumping garbage in their environment and instead focus on availing them economic empowerment.

Some of them who spoke to Kristina Reports recently, bemoaned a situation where a garbage site is being used to replace the sand dump that was providing them some economic opportunities after it was relocated.

A sand dealer, who would rather not be named, queried why a garbage site is the compensation for the sand dump that was relocated from Coconut Estate to the Bonny Kingdom Free Trade Zone along King Asimini Bypass, popularly known as Berger Road.

A petty trader residing meters away from the garbage site, who only identified herself as Chidinma, lamented that the stench from the refuse being dumped there is already causing her children to all sick.

“Na shit wey other people shit for other places na im them come pour for us to dey breathe and die, no be so? Them wan make we die for this bad smell wey full here dey kill us so.”

On his part, a member of the Elders Council of the Jack Manilla Pepple House, who preferred anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, commended the Chief and Head of the House for his support to the authorities by helping to provide a place for waste disposal but noted that he (the Chief) may not have taken into account the health and environmental implications of such far-reaching decision.

“Well, even though we did not sit as a cabinet to take the decision, our Chief means well. The government reached out to him to help and he did it in good faith because the government was literally stranded.”

“However, I’m sure that if he had brought the matter to the cabinet some of us would have asked him questions regarding the health and environmental implications of such decision. We would have asked what the government will give in exchange for polluting our air and land.”

“Since they took away the sand dump our people have been suffering with nowhere to go. So, such a thing now happening and being an eyesore ordinarily would make them angry.”  

Checks by Kristina Reports indicate that the sand dump situated at the Coconut Estate waterfront was relocated by the immediate past administration at the Bonny Local Government, which cited erosion, environmental degradation and the need to revamp the waterfront as reasons for the action.

The Chief and Head of the Jack Manilla Pepple Chieftaincy House, Se-Alabo Iganima Jack Manilla Pepple had objected to the action of the Local Government then, lamenting that the move was akin to imposing austerity measure on his people who have no other means of survival.

It appears his complaints fell on deaf ears as the government neither responded or took any action to ameliorate the situation.

Feedbacks gathered by Kristina Reports from residents of the area indicate that there is palpable anger against the Bonny Local Government as presently constituted for opting for a garbage site in place of the sand dump.

So far, the Bonny LGA sole administrator, Kingsley Banigo has snubbed every effort to have his reaction to the indiscriminate dumping of garbage on the people of Oguede and Coconut Estate and exposing them to public health hazards and environmental pollution.