A 300-man surveillance task force has been constituted by the Kwara State Government to check the indiscriminate dumping of refuse in the Ilorin metropolis of the state capital.
Inaugurating the environmental task force at the conference hall of the Ministry of Environment in Ilorin on Monday, the Commissioner of the ministry, Hajia Nafisat Musa Buge emphasized that members of the public must cooperate with the government and its agencies to forestall the outbreak of diseases, especially cholera, which is already ravaging some states in the country.
According to a statement by the press secretary of the ministry, Kamaldeen Aliagan, the Commissioner said: “Indiscriminate dumping of refuse is a general phenomenon that requires urgent attention, most especially in the Ilorin metropolis. The only solution to eradicate it is to aggressively commence a rethinking of sustainable waste management by the government and sensitize the people on the dangers inherent in dumping refuse indiscriminately”.
The commissioner said new strategies to be employed by the ministry include outlawing the dumping of refuse on road medians, roundabouts, drainage channels, and waterways.
“The new strategies also forbid anybody from displaying wares or goods beyond the gutter on the roadsides for trading activities.
“The ministry will, with immediate effect, remove the bigger roll-roll (waste) bins from the roadsides or roundabouts and take them to secure places where vehicular movements will not be impeded.
“Waste bins have also been placed at different collection points for evacuation to the final dump site, while well-organized consultants have been put in place to evacuate refuse from the collection points within 24 hours.
“Similarly, scavenging is no longer allowed in the metropolis, as all previously registered scavengers have been advised to do their business at the government dump site at Sokoto-Aiyekale off the expressway.
“The ministry has also engaged 38 commercial waste consultants and allocated them to different communities to collect refuse with the payment of a monthly token. Otherwise, refuse should be dumped inside the government mobile collection vans whenever they come to the communities,” the statement added.
Chief Magistrate Ibrahim Dansuki who administered the oath of allegiance to members of the taskforce, stressed the need for the committee to adhere strictly to the environmental laws to avoid litigation.
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