Firm seeks power to enforce sanitation law in Ondo
Firm seeks power to enforce sanitation law in Ondo
An environmental firm, the ZL Global Alliance which is in partnership with the Ondo State Government on integrated waste management has called on the state government to grant it power to enforce sanitation law in the state .
The firm, which expressed concern over the attitude of the residents of the state towards waste disposal, identified monitoring and enforcement of existing sanitation laws as a way to address indiscriminate waste disposal in the state.
The Group Managing Director of ZL Global Alliance, Abiola Bashorun, stated this on Wednesday, while speaking with journalists in Akure, the state capital.
Bashorun stressed the need to put in place monitoring and enforcement teams, to enhance attitudinal change of the people towards environmental sanitation.
She advocated that the state government should empower ZLGA to perform enforcement and monitoring to put an end to the ceaseless littering of waste on the streets by the residents of the state .
She noted that failure of the state government to arrest and prosecute residents who continuously dump waste on major streets had made the situation worse. She also frowned over some situations where workers of the company resume clearing of waste on major streets across the state as early as 5am daily but only to see the whole streets littered again within one or two hours after .
She said, “The Ondo State Waste Management Authority as well as the parent ministry, the state ministry of environment, should also wake up to their assigned responsibilities of enforcing environmental laws, rules and regulations. It is not enough to go out only on monthly environmental sanitation days, much more is required.
“The ZL Global Alliance is a private company that cannot carry out enforcement of government environmental laws. It is the duty of the Ondo State government through the Ministry of Environment and Waste Management Authority to enforce these laws and ensure the cleanliness of the state. We are going to sort this out, we wish we could carry out enforcement and monitoring of waste management, if empowered.
“Since ZL Global Alliance came into Ondo State, the company has not neglected its duties and responsibilities as explicitly spelt out in the contractual agreements with the state government, principally in the management of public waste and other matters thereto related.”
The waste manager also called for a special specialized trash collection truck in every neighborhood instead of indiscriminate dumping of waste by the residents, saying this would also be of help.
“There is a need for residents to buy refuse bag and baskets and put their dirts for easy evacuation instead of the habitual practices of throwing wastes into drains and rivers especially during rain,” she stressed.
She, however, expressed assurance that waste deposited on major highways and major streets across the state would be a thing of the past in the next few weeks, saying the company had never failed to discharge its duties in accordance with the mandates given to it by the state government.
Bashorun called on residents of the state to imbibe the attitude of proper waste disposal with the use of waste bins instead of indiscriminate dumping by the roadside.
