NIGERIA: OVERCOMING ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS IN EDO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000039 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2019 TAGS: PGOV SENV SOCI NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA: OVERCOMING ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS IN EDO REF: A. LAGOS 227 ¶B. LAGOS 285 ¶C. LAGOS 05 ¶D. LAGOS 08 ¶E. LAGOS 38 Classified By: Consul General Donna Blair, Reasons 1.4 (B,D) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Serious health risks and collapsed infrastructure are the legacy Governor Adams Oshiomhole (Action Congress - AC) inherited when he came to power in November 2008. The Oshiomhole administration has developed comprehensive plans to address the inter-related problems, brought in competent contractors to conduct the construction necessary and started to enforce environmental laws. Illegal logging is down and reforestation has begun. Progress is visible but government officials are candid about the magnitude of the task still ahead; U.S. assistance was urgently requested. This is the fourth and last in a series of cables assessing the performance of Governor Oshiomhole's administration roughly one year after it came to power in Edo State. END SUMMARY. -------------- DROWNING IN WASTE -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Benin City traditionally drowned in sewage every rainy season as a result of incompetent planning and corruption in the execution of city infrastructure projects, while the lack of proper waste management resulted in illegal waste dumps and created serious health hazards. The drainage system did not provide proper run-off or allow secondary drains to empty into primary drains. Construction contracts awarded on the basis of patronage resulted roads that consisted of nothing more than a thin layer of tarmac on a dirt bed. Dumps containing everything from electrical and medical waste to human bodies sprung up around the city, even in residential areas, while drainage canals were used as latrines. ¶3. (SBU) Oshiomhole's Commissioner for Environment, Clem Agba, pointed out to PolOff in early December that the drains silted up because the thin layer of asphalt from improperly built roads rapidly disintegrated and the surface dirt from the roads washed into the drains each rainy season but these drains were not connected to any wider drainage system and so rapidly silted up entirely. The silting problem was compounded by the use of drains as informal dumps and latrines by residents. These drains rapidly filled with so much silt and rubbish that they became "land" on which people built shops crowding the streets while waste disposal next took the form of dumps that grew several stories high. -------------- DIGGING OUT -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The Oshiomhole administration has de-silted 100 kilometers of side drains, and initiated joint planning procedures between the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Environment to enable the construction of a comprehensive drainage system that will funnel run-off out of the city altogether. Agba noted that this has to start down-stream, where it is least visible, but said the administration would not bow to pressure to focus on "quick fix" remedies, but pursue a rational, long-term solution to the perennial problem. ¶5. (SBU) The road construction contracted by the current administration must meet international standards for foundations, materials and drainage. To date, 32 roads have been completed, although construction could not start until the end of the rainy season in October. More roads are under construction, all on foundations of gravel with a thick (measured by city officials) layer of tarmac. ¶6. (SBU) The city bulldozed dump sites which had previously LAGOS 00000039 002 OF 002 contaminated the water, air and environment of surrounding residential areas and has relocated dumps outside of the city. Forty-eight contracts have been awarded to waste management companies based on rigid but transparent requirements for removing, transporting and disposing of the waste using proper equipment to designated sites. ¶7. (SBU) Agba lamented that the state is still far away from having a proper landfill much less a means of converting waste into "wealth" in terms of energy, fertilizer or other productive by-products. Agba also spoke of the need to educate the population about the fundamentals of environmental pollution and hygiene to stop the widespread use of drains for human and other waste. He hopes that lighting and beautification projects will start to build civic pride while fines and public service campaigns will gradually change attitudes and impact behavior. -------------- - CRACKING DOWN ON ILLEGAL LOGGING, REFORESTATION -------------- - ¶8. (SBU) The natural rainforests that once covered the state have largely disappeared so that now only 12 per cent of the state is forested. The current administration has started enforcing existing laws and raised the fines associated with illegal logging, resulting in a 250 per cent increase in revenues collected from violators. The state also launched a reforestation project aimed at planting one million trees by the end of 2012. Two-hundred thousand trees were planted in 2009, 250,000 are planned for 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively. Because the forests are vital to stopping widespread erosion, the Ministry of Environment is attempting to find a balance between restoring native forests and planting species that grow rapidly. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) PolOff was shown a lengthy PowerPoint presentation including scores of photos and taken physically to a variety of sites across the city to assess the work done by the Oshiomhole administration. PolOff also saw the TV commercial explaining the new waste collection system. Discussions with Agba and his staff were candid and stressed the immense task still ahead. Edo State asked urgently for U.S. help both with respect to "Methane to Markets" programs and in biotechnology to help reforest in an optimal manner. END COMMENT. ¶10. (C) ConGen Lagos coordinated this telegram with Embassy Abuja. BLAIR