he Ebonyi State Government says it has put in place an intervention mechanism for waste disposal, and the effort is yielding results.
Speaking to journalists during the monthly sanitation exercise in Abakaliki on Saturday, the Commissioner for Environment, Hon. Victor Chukwu, said this month’s exercise recorded high compliance. He urged residents to have realistic expectations about waste disposal.
Chukwu disclosed that when contractors fail to evacuate waste, the ministry hires trucks and labourers to clear affected areas and later deducts the cost from the defaulting contractor’s payment.
He said more than 80 supervisors, environmental marshals, and officials of the Environmental Health Services Department have been deployed across the state to monitor sanitation and ensure contractors meet their obligations.
The commissioner also warned residents against dumping refuse at unauthorized locations. He said most illegal dump sites are inaccessible to evacuation trucks.
“We designate dump sites along accessible roads because trucks cannot enter difficult terrains. People who dump refuse elsewhere should not expect the ministry to evacuate it,” he said.
“Nobody should expect waste eradication. We cannot eradicate waste; we evacuate it,” Chukwu added, noting that the ministry’s focus is on prompt evacuation, not eliminating waste generation.
He explained that refuse collection is consistent across the state, except on Mondays when contractors are overwhelmed by weekend waste. Because contractors do not work on Sundays, waste from Saturday evening to Sunday accumulates.
“If you visit a dump site early Monday morning, it may look neglected, but by afternoon the waste would have been evacuated. From Tuesday to the weekend, you will hardly find unattended dumps unless there is a breakdown,” he said.
Waste Intervention Mechanism Yielding Results ~ Ebonyi Govt
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