By Monday Ajogun
The Managing Director of the Edo State Waste Management Board (EWMB), Dr Lucky Enehita-Inegbenehi, says the state government has engaged an additional 500 sweepers as part of efforts to maintain a cleaner environment across Edo.
Enehita-Inegbenehi made the disclosure at a news conference on Wednesday in Benin.
According to him, the 500 newly engaged sweepers have been deployed across the 18 local government areas of the state to complement the existing workforce.
He added that the board had also acquired modern equipment, including bulldozers, payloaders, tippers and compactors, to improve waste management services in the state.
“We declared ‘Operation Free Edo’, which entails evacuation of refuse heaps that had remained in different locations for years. We also launched ‘Operation Clean Edo North,” he said.
The managing director identified dump-site maintenance as one of the board’s major challenges in the past but noted that existing dump sites had been expanded and were now being maintained regularly.
He said the board had dump sites across the 18 local government areas of the state, adding that waste collection had become more efficient.
Enehita-Inegbenehi further disclosed that the board had launched “Operation Show Your Receipt”, under which officials move from house to house to verify that residents are patronising accredited waste collectors and complying with waste disposal regulations.
He warned that waste should only be disposed of through government-accredited waste collectors, stressing that defaulters would face the full wrath of the law.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of the Edo State Parks and Gardens Agency, Mr Stanley Ighodaro, said the agency had embarked on a free tree-planting initiative aimed at preserving the state’s natural ecosystem.
Ighodaro said the agency had developed plans to transform the city centre through the planting of trees at strategic locations in Edo South.
He warned that individuals, who deliberately destroyed trees planted to beautify the environment would face stiff penalties if apprehended. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
AJOM/OIF/CHOM