Kaduna – Mr Yandeh Mairiga, President, Environmental Health Officers Association of Nigeria, has urged the Kaduna State Government to recruit more personnel to boost environmental health in the state.
Mairiga said shortage of manpower and lack of enabling laws had crippled the environmental health sector in the state.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Kaduna that the state currently had only 100 certified environmental health officers.
According to him, the figure is grossly inadequate for a state with an estimated population of eight million people.
“The World Health Organisation (WHO) standard for environmental health inspectors is one officer to 8,000 people.
“In our case the situation is one inspector to 80,000 people. How can our impact be felt,” he said.
Mairiga blamed the situation on government’s failure to encourage professional certification of environmental health officers in the state.
He, therefore, urged Gov. Nasiru El-Rufa’i to address the problem in order to enhance healthy environment and protect the citizenry.
According to Mairiga, every food vendor and operator has to be certified by environmental officials to enable them operate under healthy environment.
“Restaurant operators think cooking does not need any specialised training, so they jump into it with the traditional way of cooking without the basic of a clean environment.
“As environmental health officials, we have the right to seek a court injunction to seal any place found wanting until the right thing is done.
“But we are crippled by inadequate manpower to effectively monitor and certify every food vendor in the state.”
He said no matter the nutritional value of food, its method of preparation could make it detrimental to human health.
The environmental official urged the three tiers of government across the country to recruit more environment health professionals to enforce environmental laws and promote healthy living. (NAN)