There is respite for motorists plying the federal highway in Zuba, Abuja, following the evacuation of a refuse heap that had occupied part of the road and contributed to traffic gridlock in the area.
The Abuja Metro reporter, who visited the area yesterday, observed a contractor engaged by the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, evacuating the refuse from the site.
Speaking at the site, a staff member of the Satellite Towns Development Department, STDD, Abolarin Olorunleke, said the exercise, which began a day earlier, was expected to be completed yesterday.
Olorunleke, the STDD supervisor in charge of refuse evacuation in Gwagwalada and Kwali Area Councils, said the exercise would henceforth be carried out for two days at the end of every month.
He said the exercise was part of a two-year contract awarded by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, for sanitation activities across the six area councils.
According to him, the contract covers the evacuation of refuse from dumpsites and the clearing of drainages around expressways.
About three trucks were seen at the site, collecting refuse loaded by a payloader.
A commercial driver operating along the route, Michiel Olusoga, commended the exercise, saying it would provide relief for motorists using the Zuba highway.
He, however, urged the STDD to provide refuse containers around the area to discourage indiscriminate dumping and ensure regular evacuation of waste.
“This would go a long way in giving the area a befitting face, not the way it currently looks whenever you have a deposit of heap here,” he said.
The chairman of the traders’ union at the nearby Zuba Fruits Market, Ibrahim Muhammad Talba, also commended the FCT minister for renewing the refuse evacuation contract after what he described as months of delay.
Talba urged the FCT Administration to sustain the exercise to ensure free flow of traffic along the highway and prevent flooding in the area.
