Abuja orphanage home shares entrance with dumpsite

The management of an orphanage home situated in Piwoyi village, a suburb of Abuja, has expressed concern over a dumpsite within its entrance.

A PREMIUM TIMES reporter who visited the orphanage found the dumpsite just a few feet from the gate of the orphanage with its litters spread across the entrance route, putting both visitors and the orphans at a health risk.

Piwoyi, a small village a few meters from the express way leading to the Abuja airport, shelters about 1500 people; mostly low-income earners and people in the informal sector.

The standard of living there is low with most of the houses being either batchers or short bungalows.

Benedicta Dzreke, the proprietor of the private orphanage, Bema Homes for the less privileged, said residents of the area and market sellers use the spot as a dumpsite.

“When they put fire to burn the refuse at the dumpsite, the whole smoke will cloud up the whole orphanage and this is dangerous to the health of the children. When it is raining, the flood will flush down the refuse inside the compound exposing the children to dirt and diseases,” Mrs. Dzreke said.

She said the orphanage has cleared the dumpsite twice with the help of its donors, but the residents keep filling it up.

“We wrote to the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, AEPB about this issue, they came and accessed the place but since then nothing has been done,” she said.

When contacted, the spokesperson of AEPB, Muktar Ibrahim, said though he is not particularly aware of the dumpsite, the board will swing into action as soon he gets full confirmation of the development.

“I will get that confirmation shortly from the office in charge of complaints then something will be done, we will find out the situation of things over there,” Mr. Ibrahim said.

Meanwhile a refrigerator repairer that works directly opposite the orphanage who simply identified himself as Friday told this paper that it has been long the residents have been using the spot as a dumpsite.

He said the best option is for the authorities to clear the dumpsite and provide a means of waste disposal for the community, else they resort to the same spot again.