Waste Management: Akwa Ibom Govt reads riot acts to residents
…”Dump Waste In The Gutter, Go To Jail”
Akwa Ibom State Government has warned in very strong terms that any citizen or resident who dump solid waste in the gutters in any part of the State, now risk cooling his or her heels in jail or subject to other forms of punishment as stipulated by law.
Displeased by the emerging culture of dumping trash in drainages with the intention of them being washed away, the Executive Chairman, Akwa Ibom State Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency (AKSEPWMA), Hon Prince Ikim, revealed that it cost the state government huge resources to desilt the drains and avert floods.
The AKSEPWMA boss who on Tuesday was at Aka Itiam and Mbiabong Etoi communities in Uyo Local Government Area to inspect the desilting of gutters by men of the Agency, said, blockage of drains caused water to be on the road when it rains.
Hear him: ‘’The rate at which people use our drains as dumpsites beats imagination. The drains are not dumpsites but our people have this erroneous belief that the rains will evacuate the wastes, no sir, no madam, that is not true. It is until the people allow these drains to be functional, that is when they can serve their purpose.”
Answering a reporter’s question, the AKSEPWMA honcho noted, “’We are done with sensitization, it’s time for enforcement. Henceforth, we are going to deploy the Agency’s Taskforce to monitor all drains and anyone caught dumping trash in the gutter, no matter how highly placed, will be made to face the law.
Hon Ikim noted that the Udom Emmanuel administration has committed huge resources into constructing roads which come with side drains, saying, if citizens do not take ownership of these projects and sustain them, the purpose for which government provided the infrastructure would have been defeated.
He however, pleaded with residents to help government to serve them better
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