Decomposing heap of refuse at Nung Udoe market, Akwa Ibom state, where the council has raised about N9 million on sanitation levy.
By Abasifreke Effiong – Akwa Ibom state
Ibesikpo Asutan local government council has put traders at Nung Udoe market at risk of epidemics despite collecting about N9 million on sanitation levy in two years.
Despite forcing more than 3000 traders at the Nung Udoe market to pay N100 every week for sanitation, the Ibesikpo Asutan local government council, Akwa Ibom state, has refused to evacuate wastes at the market, leaving traders at the risks of an epidemic.
Traders at the Nung Udoe market have been paying N100 every week to Ibesikpo Asutan local government council for sweeping of the market and evacuation of wastes but the council has not evacuated the wastes since it began the collection of the levy in February 2018.
It is estimated that each trader in the market has paid at least N3000 in the last two years since the local government council set up the market sanitation committee. At average, about N9,000,000 has been raised from sanitation levy collected at the Nung Udoe market within two years, yet the council has abandoned its own obligation of evacuating wastes generated in the market.
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Traders in the market said they are at risk of an outbreak of epidemics..
Fruits, fufu and garri (local staples produced from cassava) sellers display their wares around the heap of refuse, mindless of the stench oozing out from it and the health hazards an outbreak of fungi and bacteria breeding on the heap of refuse would cause the food they sell.
Traders displaying garri in wheelbarrows at the far – right – end of the refuse.
This reporter while on a market survey December last year observed that traders were using old mosquito nets to construct a bulwark around the heap of refuse to contain the swarm of insects that has infested the heap.
On a sunny Saturday afternoon of January 25th this year, a cobbler sits under a kiosk made with tarpaulin and unplanned wood, about six meters from the heap of refuse. Opposite the cobbler’s kiosk, about four meters away from the heap of refuse is a woman and a young man grinding Afang (Gnetum Africanum).
They were busy attending to their businesses not minding the stench that saturated the air around where they were.
A woman grinding Afang about four meters away from the heap of refuse.
On interaction, the cobbler who gave his name as Nsikak Daniel said they have to use mosquito nets to create a barricade around the heap to control flies and other insects that perched on the refuse from disturbing traders whose shades and kiosks are very close to the wastes dump.
Daniel said they have tried to resist the payment of the sanitation levy imposed on them by the council because of the non-evacuation of the wastes but they are constantly harassed and overpowered by the sanitation agents.
“The sanitation agents would seize your goods if you don’t pay your levy”, he noted. This is why the traders have kept paying the levy.
The council under the current administration has paid no attention to public health, Bassey Simon, a resident of Nung Udoe told The Dune.
READERS’ DISCRETION : This report contains graphic content after the next two paragraphs.
He said recently, workers at the Akwa Ibom state government owned cassava processing mill retooled and inaugurated by Governor Udom Emmanuel last year had to close the factory for at least two months because the council left an unidentified corpse which was found around the factory unattended to, putting the health of people around the area under risk.
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The Magistrate court, Nung Udoe, the Divisional Police station and office, Department of State Security (DSS) are all located close to where the corpse laid and decomposed.
A corpse left unattended to at the fence of the 30 tonnes cassava processing mill, Nung Udoe.
Without meeting the obligation of evacuating wastes at the Nung Udoe market which traders have paid for, the Ibesikpo Asutan local government council through a different revenue agents began collection of another sanitation levy, this one, from shop owners.
Under the shop owners’ sanitation levy, every shop owner is demanded to pay N5000 as sanitation tax.
A copy of the demand notice sighted by The Dune is dated March 3, 2020. The notice is titled “Demand notice for sanitation levy for 2020” and it reads, “in accordance with the Akwa Ibom state local government edict No. 3 of 1989 and the unified local government council of Nigeria and the three tiers as contained in section (7) of the schedules of 1999 and decree No. (21) 1998 (A218). Ibesikpo Asutan demand (sic) that the sum of N5000 be paid as your rate/levy in respect of 2020 tax.”
“You are required to pay the stipulated fee within 14 days of this notice to revenue generation and mobilisation committee, Ibesikpo Asutan local government area by cheque/cash or face prosecution.”
No wastes bins or dumpsters has been provided to the shop owners to dump their refuse.
Traders at the Fiongaran market and shop owners in Nung Udoe say they have been battling with a corrupt and exploitive revenue regime under Mr. Sylvster George, as chairman of Ibesikpo Asutan local government area.
“Every week, each trader in this market pays N100 as sanitation levy to the local government council through designated revenue agents but the council is not using the money to evacuate wastes generated in the market. We are suffering in this market, Sylvester George is taxing us too much.”
“It is corruption to collect money from people for a thing you are not doing. That is why we want the (state) government to hear us”, one of the traders who volunteered to speak said.
A demand notice for annual sanitation tax served on shop owners in Nung Udoe.
A cross section of traders in the market said since setting up a revenue team to collect sanitation levy on weekly basis from traders at the Nung Udoe market, the Ibesikpo Asutan council has not evacuated wastes from the market though it keeps on taxing them for sanitation.
Traders have nicknamed the growing heap of wastes in the market after the council chairman. Two traders who first drew the attention of this reporter to the threatening heap of refuse in the market since July last year, said traders in the market call the heap of refuse, ‘Ifim Sylvester’, which means Sylvester’s dunghill.
Mr. Sylvester George led administration reintroduced payment of sanitation levy at the market in 2018 after he was elected and sworn in as chairman of the local government in December 2017.
The Dune learnt that George’s predecessor, Barr. Ukana Udofia, suspended collection of sanitation levy which was N50.
Udofia had maintained that it was criminal to levy people for a service the council was not rendering, hence proscribed the levy.
“When Sylvester George took over from Ukana, he reintroduced sanitation levy in the market and increased it to N100.
Though it is double of what we used to pay before Ukana stopped it, we complied with them hoping that the council will use the money to evacuate refuse from the market”, a member of Nung Udoe village youth executive who is also a trader in the market said.
Public and environmental health is at its lowest ebb in the market since last year.
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“We have complained about the refuse to the sanitation agents whom we pay money to. We have pleaded with the council to see the need to evacuate the refuse because of its health hazards on the food we sell to the public and our health. But, no body listens to us.”
“The refuse has not been evacuated since after the last time it was evacuated, that was before the governorship campaign rally that was held here in the market”, a trader at the market who gave name as Nsikak Ndarake said.
Heap of refuse at Nung Udoe market, Ibesikpo Asutan, Akwa Ibom.
When contacted, chairman traders association at the Nung Udoe market, Mr. Jude Effiong Edet, said the traders association is not taken into consideration in the management of the market.
“… nobody listens to me. I am only a trader. All what they (sanitation agents) are doing is supervised by the council chairman since I’m not part and parcel of their party.”
Edet said though traders in market were forced to pay sanitation levy, the council does not have the capacity to evacuate wastes generated in the market.
“They (traders) are used to paying no doubt. They pay to avoid problems. From time, it is not the council that has been evacuating the wastes. It is Uwem Ita Etuk and I that have been evacuating the wastes, when there is political rally.”
“To me the council does not have the capacity to evacuate the wastes. The council’s environment department does not have such capacity. One, the council does not have dumping site. That is why when those boys who are handling the sanitation came to me, I told them these women you people are forcing to pay for sanitation, what implements do you have to evacuate the wastes?”
The revenue generated by market sanitation committee and the committee in charge shops sanitation has been an issue of controversy in the council.
Mr. Sylvester George, Chairman, Ibesikpo Asutan local government area addressing a gathering.
Civil servants at the treasury unit and some members of the Finance and General Purpose Committee (FGPC) at the council said the monies generated were not remitted to the council treasury.
It was alleged that the chairman of the council was using the sanitation committee to settle his political supporters. Traders in the market are indirectly paying for the political patronage enjoyed by the chairman and the party in power at the local government.
The Dune learnt that part of the agreements between the council chairman and the market sanitation committee was that the committee will pay some persons on behalf of the council chairman every week from the levy collected.
Our investigation reveals that the sanitation committee pays about 20 people N10,000 every week. “This is so for other revenue points”, a member of the council who is familiar with the arrangement said.
This explains why the council has not been able to evacuate the wastes even though it has raised about N9,000,000 on sanitation levy in the market.
However, the chairman of the sanitation committee at the Nung Udoe market, Mr. Promise Efanga, said he has been paying the council’s due of the revenue to the office of the Secretary to council.
He said the arrangement was that they should channel payment to the office of Secretary to the council.
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Efanga however said his committee was making frantic effort to evacuate the wastes at the market, explaining that they had difficulties evacuating the wastes because the council does not have a dump site.
“We will remove the wastes. The problem is that we don’t have a dump site, so when we remove the wastes here we have to take it to the state dump site along Uyo village road (which is a distance of about 11 kilometres from the market). We packed some of the wastes in January, we will pack it.”
When contacted, the chairman of Ibesikpo Asutan local government area, Mr. Sylvester George, said the council has a pact with the Akwa Ibom State Environmental Protection and Wastes Management Agency to evacuate the wastes.
“We had a pact with the Akwa Ibom state environmental sanitation and that pact we had was about six months ago because it used to entail us spending about five to six hundred thousand.”
“We had that pact but the sanitation agency hardly comes around because of time constraint. It is something I keep complaining to them. It is because we do not have a dump site, so we keep on pleading with them (sanitation agency) to also consider us.”
When he was asked why the council has not considered an interim suspension of collection of the sanitation levy since it was not evacuating the wastes, George said “Itam market is collecting sanitation levy…it is the state environmental agency that removes the wastes there. Do you question that? There are certain intricacies I cannot explain to you.”
George argued that the essence of the market sanitation committee was to sweep the market and gather the refuse to a point were it can be evacuated, hence the collection of the levy at the market cannot be suspended.
He however denied that the council has mandated another committee to collect N5000 sanitation tax from shop owners in urban areas within the local government area.
“There is only business premises committee, there is nothing like sanitation committee for shops. We only have sanitation committee in the market. I am not aware of the other committee, but I can tell you that I will find out”
The council chairman said he does not know those collecting N5000 sanitation tax from shop owners.
Though the Ibesikpo Asutan council chairman said insistently that the council has a pact with the Akwa Ibom State Environmental Protection and Wastes Management Agency (AKSEPWMA) to evacuate the wastes, chairman of AKSEPWMA, Prince Ikim said on Tuesday 25th March that his agency has no pact with the council.
“What pact does he say he has with us? He does not have any pact with my agency. He is not paying us.”
After speaking with this reporter, Ikim said his agency will visit the Nung Udoe market during this month’s sanitation exercise.
(This investigation was supported by Policy Alert, a non-governmental development organisation working on economic governance and environmental justice)
