Residents of Ondo State turned out on Saturday in compliance with the monthly environmental sanitation directive.
Speaking during the exercise, Acting General Manager of the Ondo State Waste Management Authority, Mr Adekunle Olajumbu, commended residents for their cooperation.
“We want to sincerely appreciate those who participated in this exercise. They have done a very good job,” an official said.
However, the exercise was not without sanctions.
According to records, over 40 persons were arrested in Akure metropolis for violating the environmental sanitation law.
On the issue of illegal dumpsites springing up in Akure, he disclosed that the government has mapped out strategies to tackle the menace.
The plan, according to him, would involve two stages: first, evacuating all illegal dumps with waste collection trucks, and then deploying enforcement teams to monitor the identified locations.
“If we don’t remove those dumps, they will continue to build up. After clearing them, our men will police those places both day and night to ensure no one brings waste indiscriminately. Anyone caught will be arrested and charged to court,” the official warned.
He further appealed to residents to imbibe the culture of cleanliness as part of their civic duty, stressing that sanitation remains essential to public health.
“Cleanliness is next to godliness. Let us imbibe this culture so that we can live healthily, our environment can live healthily, and the entire state can live healthily,” he added.
He called for proper waste containerisation to ensure effective collection by waste collectors.
Also speaking during the exercise, the Administrative Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Mr Olumide Kinga, lamented the disruption caused by the rain, saying that although “all machinery was in place to ensure effective monitoring for compliance,” the heavy rain that began around 6 a.m. created a major setback.
According to him, while some residents could not defy the downpour, others braved the weather to clean their surroundings.
“From my special visit, I discovered that in some areas, people actually defied the rain and were doing what they are supposed to do in terms of cleaning their premises and environment. I want to commend these people,” he stated.
“As you can see, at the roadblocks that were mounted, people are doing what they are supposed to do. This is highly commendable,” he added.
Kinga further urged residents not to restrict environmental sanitation to the monthly exercise alone, but to cultivate the habit of cleanliness as a continuous responsibility.
