Road filth irks youth

A YOUTH leader at the Back Road area has called on the Lae City Council to get its contractors to dispose waste properly and not near roadsides because it is obstructing traffic flow.
Willie Mayang, a youth leader at Kaisa, a settlement near the dump, claimed improper dumping of the city’s waste on the roadside along the Second Seven dump area had inconvenienced the travelling public.
Mayang said a few months ago, the contractors who worked for the council started disposing waste near the road because the dump was already full.
He said the waste had accumulated and affected traffic flow.
“I am really concerned because rubbish has spilled onto the main road,” Mayang said.
“The contractors cannot drive inside because the dump is full, so they are just dumping the waste near the road.”
Mayang said residents of Kaisa, Second Seven, Tent City, Telikom College and other nearby areas were affected by foul smell from the waste and fumes from the burnt rubbish.
“A number of people in our area have experienced breathing problems like shortness of breath and dry cough, so I suspect that it may be caused by the smoke coming from the rubbish burnt,” he said.
Mayang estimated that about 5000 people from the Nawaeb and Lae districts lived near the dump.
When contacted, Lae city manager Roy Kamen referred The National to Godfrey Worio, the manager responsible for the dump, however, he could not be reached for comment yesterday.