By Edeniyere Abraham Osose
In line with Edo State’s target to emerge as one of the cleanest States in Nigeria, staff members of the Edo State Waste Management Board (EDSWMD) have embarked on a massive cleanup exercise of black spots around the By-pass on the Benin-Auchi Road in Benin City, the State capital.
Speaking with journalists during the clean up exercise, the General Manager of the Board, Mr. Charles Imariagbe, reassured the residents of his agency’s commitment to making Edo one of the cleanest States in Nigeria.
According to him, a clean State is part of the journey towards achieving a well planned State status, which will further encourage and attract more investors into the State and make it a tourist destination.
Imariagbe used the occasion to call on residents of the locality to desist from indiscriminate dumping of refuse in their environment.
He appealed to the public to cooperate with the Waste Management Board and emphasized that there are policies in place to discontinue the indiscriminate dumping of refuse by the roadsides and other unauthorized areas.
The General Manager further said that the waste management agency has several strategies in place that require collaboration with the local governments, heads of communities and other stakeholders to raise awareness on the need for all residents to avoid indiscriminate dumping of refuse at undesignated sites.
He assured that the Waste Management Board will continue to put more effort into making Edo a clean and conducive environment for residents to live in.
On the indiscriminate dumping of refuse, the GM said: “We are very much conscious of that. This is what has been happening over the time. But this time, we are not doing it without the cooperation of the communities, the traditional heads (Okaeghele) as well as heads of local governments who will have monitoring taskforce teams to help watch over their various environs in order to curb the menace.”
