Lack of basic amenities in various satellite towns and suburbs of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, is fast constituting a major health risk, a development expert, Mr. Timeyin Uwajamomere, has said.

For instance, Uwajamomere said that studies have shown that 30 percent of people residing in communities within the FCT lack access to portable water and modern toilet facilities.

Uwajamomere who is the Chief Executive Officer of Mangrove and Partners Limited, said the situation has led to many of the inhabitants engaging in open defecation and poor sanitary practices.

Speaking on the outcome of a survey carried out by his organization in Mpape – one of the Satellite Towns in the FCT, Uwajamomere said lack of portable water, poor state of sanitation in Mpape has serious implications for the health of not just the people in the areas but Abuja City centre itself.

While presenting the Mpape Sanitation Baseline Assessment Report and CWIS Performance Improvement Plan in Abuja on Friday, Uwajamomere said most of the communities in the area lack access to portable water, sanitation, drainage and road infrastructure.

Uwajamomere said the poor state of sanitation and living condition of the people in Mpape constitute a health risk.

Speaking further about the study report, Timeyi said: “The findings from the study is an example of the kind of situation that we are finding across Abuja; so it is not just Mpape – it is a multiple of communities, almost hundreds of communities”. 

According to him, the situation in Mpape is similar to what obtains in most satellite towns and growing slums within the FCT, adding that most of people without decent places of abode have resorted to open defecation 

His words: “You see, the issues we are discussing doesn’t respect boundaries, territories or households. 

“We are talking about sanitation and water issues. We are looking at the poor state of sanitation in Mpape – a nearby slum neighborhood to the Abuja City centre. 

“The poor state of sanitation in Mpape has serious implications for the Abuja City centre itself.  For the residents of Mpape it’s a dire situation, they live in squalor. 

“The settlement is a few minutes from the vicinity of the high-brow areas of Minister’s Hill Quarters. What it means is that the staff of the Ministers and even some of the secretariat staff and that of the private sector business operators reside in this settlement. 

“So whatever disease they contract, they are likely to pass it to the minister and other top government officials living in posh environment. So, it is in our interest to take care of those places. 

“But what we discovered was that over 30 percent of the people living in the area does not have modern toilet facilities at all. So, they use the bush. There is no proper system for the evacuation of their wastes. If it spills, it spills over into the gutters.”

Uwajamomere said the Satellite Town Development Authority that is supposed plan for these areas appears not have a plan. 

“It does appear that there is no city plan or area plan to take care of the critical needs of the residents”.

He said that from all indications the Satellite Towns Development Department does not have the kind of support required to perform the function. 

He said the situation requires urgent attention by the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, stating that 60 percent of the people in Abuja live in these communities. 

In terms recommendations, Timeyi said the FCT administration should go back to implement its original master plan which specified certain things to be built in the satellite towns. 

He said these infrastructures should be put in place before the areas begin to witness the kind of influx of people as it is today.

Speaking to journalists, the District Head of Mpape in Bwari Area Council of the FCT, Musa El-fada lamented the poor living condition of his people.

Apart from being home to construction workers and middle-income earners, Musa lamented that while Mpape serves as a major source of stones and plaster sand for all the construction work in the capital city, yet the administration has failed to provide basic amenities for the communities

He said: “We are suffering, we don’t have water. We are depending on private bore hole for water and we don’t have access road.

“I know that Mpape is not in the Abuja Master plan, but the area is near to the city centre and the population is high. Despite the population living in Mpape, we don’t have good roads, water and General Hospital facility to take care of the health of the people. 

Musa said what is available is a health centre that hardly meets the needs of the people.

He said that most of the residents in Mpape are buying water from trucks popularly known as “Meruwa” and when there is power outage, we usually pay N2000 for each truck of water.