BENIN CITY – The Edo State Government has warned against indiscriminate waste disposal and unhealthy practices that violate the state’s extant environmental laws.
Addressing journalists after inspecting Oregbeni market, Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of the state, Commissioner for Environment and Sustainability, Hon. Jonathan Lawani, urged stakeholders to collaborate with the state government to keep the state clean so as to prevent disease outbreaks.
He noted, “Disease-carrying organisms tend to spread when we don’t keep our environment clean, and as residents of the state, we need to ensure that our homes and markets are clean. Our drains must be well desilted.”
The commissioner urged traders to ensure that their shops are always clean, adding: “Don’t dump wastes indiscriminately but ensure to bag your waste properly and place them in designated areas for easy evacuation.”
He reiterated that the state government will strengthen interventions to ensure a safe and clean environment for all, noting that anyone who violates the law would be prosecuted in line with the extant environmental law as it will no longer be business as usual for violators.
The Head of Local Government Administration, (HOLGA), Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area, Mr. Richard Edenamiegho, said the council will ensure traders and residents comply with Governor Godwin Obaseki’s Mandate to keep Edo Clean and Green.
The leader of the Oregbeni Market, Mrs. Mary Osemwenkha, said the biggest challenge they are facing is that the waste manager in charge of the market does not evacuate their waste as regularly as necessary even after they pay monthly waste disposal bills.
She appealed to the state government to replace the present waste manager for better waste management.
