Ibadan -Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State on Tuesday declared his administration’s readiness to ensure strict enforcement of the state’s environmental laws to keep the state clean.
The governor, who stated this during his tour of Ibadan metropolis to assess the environmental situation, expressed displeasure with the delay in the evacuation of refuse on some major roads.
The governor frowned at the failure of the Head of Local Government Administration, environmental health officers and the State’s Waste Management Authority to evacuate the refuse.
He urged them to be alive to their responsibilities in maintaining a clean environment.
“This is embarrassing. This government is known for its credentials in environmental cleanliness and urban renewal. We won’t allow anybody to dent such credentials.
“Everybody must work now. We are prepared to sanction people for inefficiency and services not rendered. The whole place is dirty. It’s a disgrace.
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“We are educating and enlightening our people now. We are informing them on what to do, soliciting their support. We are going to engage more youths to enforce sanitation laws
“We will fortify the environmental officers and bring in more people,’’ he said.
The governor said that it was unfortunate that most of the residents, particularly traders within the state capital, had yet to fully comply with the state environmental laws by refusing to vacate the road sides.
Ajimobi said that residents must contribute to the environmental cleanliness crusade by adopting attitudinal change from indiscriminate refuse dumping and street trading.
The governor also addressed traders at Ojoo Market and solicited their cooperation and support in his administration’s quest at ensuring a clean environment and stoppage of road side trading.
The governor reminded the traders of the dangers and health hazards inherent in trading by the road sides.
Responding, the Iyaloja of the market, Alhaja Fausat Oluwakemi, blamed unknown persons, who operate under the cover of darkness for the refuse dumped on the U.I–Ojoo highway median strip.
She solicited government’s intervention to ensure prompt arrest of those responsible for the indiscriminate refuse dumping, adding that their appeal to the police in this regard had been rebuffed.
The governor, however, advised the traders to organise vigilance groups that would monitor the movement of such people and copy their vehicle number plates if they could not apprehend them. (NAN)
