Aja, Akute sitting on ‘time bomb’ of refuse

Akute, Ajah and other swampy areas in Lagos where refuse is used to reclaim land are sitting on time bomb, an engineer has warned.

Olalekan Taiwo, the Apapa branch chairman of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), on Monday advised the public against the practice.

Taiwo NAN that the practice was “like sitting on a time bomb”.

“Refuse consists of wastes and when you use them to reclaim land, the implication is that over time, these wastes decompose.

“It decomposes and gives way and there would be so much porosity in the soil such that it would not hold any structure that is built on it.

“Those using refuse should desist from such practice.  It does not cost so much to get other safer materials to reclaim land.

“It may cost much to do filling but it is the best way to reclaim a swampy land.

“With filling, you are sure of what you get but with refuse you are destroying rather than reclaiming the land, ” the NSE chief said.

He said the professional body would partner with the Lagos state government to educate residents on the danger of using refuse to reclaim land.

Taiwo, however, urged the state government to formulate the enabling policy and to stipulate the type of soils people could build on.

He advised residents to support the state government in the fight against flooding as the nation approaches the rainy season.

The engineer said the state government was doing a lot to clean the drains and urged the people to cooperate because the consequences of flooding usually affected them.

“The drainages have to be cleared and our people should desist from using these channels to dispose wastes because it would come back to them,” he said.

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