By Saheed Ibrahim & Imoleoluwa Adeyanju

In order to checkmate incidence of flood and outbreak of diseases in Ondo state, stakeholders have warned residents to desist from dumping waste in drainages and water ways.

They also called on the state government to ensure violators of environmental laws are arrested and prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others.

Recall, some days ago, a student of St. Camel School in Ikare was swept away by flood and many communities had experienced damaging flood as the rainy season began.

An environmental scientist and public health expert, Olumide Orenolu stressed that it was the responsibility of every individual to ensure clearance of drainages and canals around their homes and offices to avoid flood, adding that dumping of waste in drainages, waterways and by the road side must be avoided.

“So, what people can actually do now to at least mitigate flooding and some   other related issues is to make sure that within their vicinity, they clear the canals and they make sure that they do not dump new refuse in those canals.

The public health expert noted that creating water ways in streets did not necessary require use of bricks but efforts must be made to create path for free flow of water.

“While we also understand the fact that no matter what you do sometimes,  when there’s heavy downpour, there will always be flooding but it will not take a long time if there’s is proper drainage.

“So even if we have what we call flash flood, if there are proper drainage systems, within few hours, the water will be washed off and you won’t have issues where water is washing off the whole house or people or property and the rest.

Also speaking, a retired teacher and administrator, Morakinyo Adegunloye noted that dumping refuse in drainages could lead to outbreak of diseases such as Malaria.

He recommended that residents of the Sunshine State must comply with the directives and regulations of the Ondo State Waste Manage Authority by having waste bin and making effective use of them.

In his contribution, a community leader in Idanre, Barrister Akintububo Olaleye noted that “dumping refuse is a common practice among our people. It’s so notorius that people just dump their refuse anywhere they like especially in our draining system popularly known as gutter.”

“Apart from flood, it will lead to disease because when dumping refuse in open place it will allow fly to feed on rotting refuse which will drop around side of food and if care is not taking it may cause cholera.

“It might lead to malaria in sense that when you drop refuse in gutter there may be stagnation in our gutter or draining system, it will become a breathing ground for mosquitoes”.

He, however, called on government to strictly enforce environmental laws against violators in the state.

“We have various law enforcement agents that enforce environmental laws. They should ensure that people dumping waste in drainages and waterways are arrested and prosecuted”, he stated.