Ola Oresanya addressing Environmental Officers
In her desire to have a cleaner environment and prevent indiscriminate dumping of refuse or wastes on roadsides, medians, waterways and drainages, the Ogun State Government says it will commence massive statewide enforcement of its environmental law and prosecute offenders, reports Great Achiever Magazine.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment and Chief Executive Officer of the Ogun State Waste Management Authority, OGWAMA, Mr Ola Oresanya announced this during the state Waste Management Stakeholders Meeting with Community Development Associations (CDAs), Central Development Councils (CDCs) and Market Leaders in Abeokuta North and South Local Government Areas of the State in Abeokuta.
Mr Oresanya said while many residents of the state have complied with the ongoing waste management reforms in the state which mandated households, commercial and industrial outlets in the state to patronize Waste Private Sector Participants assigned to their area for collection and proper disposal of their wastes for just a token, some recalcitrant individuals are still unyielding despite several moral persuasion for them to comply.
“These individuals are the ones littering our streets and public places with their wastes. They do this by dumping them at night and early in the morning, thereby defacing our environment.
“We will not allow them continue with their bad and illegal habit especially the elites who used their cars and vehicles to dump refuse everywhere.
“Ogun State people are known to be clean, fashionable people. So these few recalcitrant individuals will not be allowed”, he added.
On market wastes, Ola Oresanya told the markets leaders on the need to keep all market surroundings clean, saying that the state government is not always happy closing down markets because of sanitation issues, adding that aside from important roles markets played in human consumption habit, they are supposed to be tourist attractions to visitors.
Responding the Chairman of Abeokuta South Local Government CDC, Mr Kazim Ajagunjeun praised the state government for its new determination to stop indiscriminate dumping of refuse in public places, adding that people must pay for their waste no matter how little to know the importance of sanitation.
At the end of the stakeholders meeting, it was agreed that there should be enforcement and restriction of movement in all Twenty (20) Local Government areas of the state during the monthly environmental sanitation exercise as non-restriction of movement and lack of enforcement has taken shine out of the exercise.
