Ekiti State Government has again warned residents against indiscriminate dumping of refuse in drainages and waterways to avert flooding and erosion.
The State Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Erelu Tosin Aluko Ajisafe who gave the warning in Ado Ekiti while featuring on a live audience participation simulcast “Ekiti L’oni”, said the State Government had established a task-force that works round the clock to apprehend offenders, stressing that culprits shall be prosecuted accordingly.
Chief Tosin Aluko also decried the trend of dumping refuse on road medians adding that operatives of the task-force have been directed to arrest anyone caught dumping refuse arbitrarily on road sides or waterway.
She said that the focus of Governor Oyebanji administration is to proactively address the issue of sanitation to promote healthy sanitary conditions across the State.
According to her, the State government recognizes that improper waste disposal may cause pollution of air, soil and water which may lead to a myriad of health problems for the populace and would therefore leave no stone unturned towards ensuring a clean environment to stimulate good health and hygiene.
Noting that population growth and increase in social-economic activities particularly in urban areas has led to a sharp increase in waste generation, Tosin-Aluko added that the State Government has procured an additional 20 Dino Bins which would be delivered before the end of June to complement the ones that were strategically placed across Ado metropolis to further ease the process of proper refuse disposal in the state.
She said eight more Private Sector Participation (PSP) operators, responsible for waste collection have also been added to the existing ones to properly handle the additional waste generated in the State capital.
The Commissioner assured that efforts of Government to make the State clean and hygienic is not limited to the State capital adding that no community would be neglected in the fight against poor sanitary conditions and unclean environment.
Tosin-Aluko said that the State Government similarly employed 105 people as Environmental Officers to ensure compliance with environmental regulations and standards related to pollution and waste management and assure that engagement of enforcement officers would be continuous.
Highlighting other Government interventions in environmental sanitation and keeping the State clean, the Commissioner said that environmental sanitation exercise has been introduced in markets and shops along the roads on Thursdays apart from the general sanitation exercise of the last Saturday of every month.
She said the State would continue to proactively work on dredging of waterways and desiltation of drainages to prevent flooding especially considering the NiMET’s prediction of heavy rainfall between July and September, adding that work would continue in Ikere-Ekiti, Ijero-Ekiti, Aramoko-Ekiti, Igbemo-Ekiti, Are-Ekiti and Eyio-Ekiti to avert flooding and damages in the rainy season.
The Commissioner said Governor Oyebanji had also approved planting of flowers and trees in Ado Ekiti as part of efforts to beautify the State capital.
She solicited the continued support of residents for efforts to make the State clean and healthy, stressing the need for all stakeholders to strictly adhere with the State Environmental Laws to mitigate environmental problems which emanate from human activities in the quest for economic growth and development and promote better living conditions.