Sanitation: Jabi residents warned against blocking drainages

By Stanley Onyekwere

The FCT Emergency Management Agency, (FEMA), has cautioned residents in Jabi area of Abuja, to desist from blocking drains through indiscriminate disposal of solid wastes.

FEMA Director General, Dr. Abbas Idriss made the point after an assessment of drainages in Jabi district of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Idriss, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Monitoring and Special Duties, Abubakar Dantani Ododa, noted that drainages in the area visited were poorly managed as most of the water passage were blocked by solid waste which makes the environment prone to flooding.

He also applauded the siting of a well organised dump site, close to Jabi park, where refuse is neatly burnt.

The FEMA boss, in a recent statement from the Agency’s Information Officer, Chiamaka Okeke, however frowned at a the situation where wastes removed from drainages are kept beside the drains and eventually end up in the drains when wind or rain comes.

He also appealed to the Abuja Environmental Protection Board,(AEPB), to immediately take action to clear the drains.

He also appealed to residents to maintain the sanity of the environment to avert a possible outbreak of diseases and flooding in the coming season.