The Ogun State Government has ruled out the reintroduction of the monthly environmental sanitation exercise, saying it will instead strengthen daily waste management operations through the provision of additional equipment.
Governor Dapo Abiodun stated this during the commissioning of waste management equipment, operational vehicles and an office block in Abeokuta.
The event also marked the first six months in office of the Special Adviser and Managing Director of the Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA), Farouk Akintunde.
Represented by the Commissioner for Environment, Dr Ola Oresanya, Abiodun said the state had moved beyond the practice of shutting down economic and social activities for several hours each month in the name of environmental sanitation.
According to him, the government has promoted daily environmental sanitation across the state over the past six years, making a designated monthly sanitation day unnecessary.
“Already our people are used to daily sanitation, so instead of reintroducing monthly Environmental Exercise, we have decided to buy more Compactors and other waste management equipment for the State Waste Management Authority OGWAMA to daily collect and properly dispose of waste generated by households, commercial outlets and industrial facilities in conjunction with accredited PSPs across the state,” Abiodun said.
He added that the additional equipment would boost OGWAMA’s capacity and help address challenges associated with the former monthly sanitation regime.
“In fact, the state government will soon take delivery of these Compactors and other waste equipment to further strengthen OGWAMA, thereby affirming the state government’s determination of not going back to the old ways when Environmental Sanitation Exercises are done once in a month, with its problems of ineffective collection and disposal even hours after the end of the exercise,” he added.
The governor commended residents, Community Development Associations (CDAs), owners of commercial outlets and captains of industry for their cooperation with the government in maintaining a clean environment.
Abiodun assured residents that his administration would continue to strengthen the Ministry of Environment and its agencies, including the Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency (OGEPA) and OGWAMA, through the provision of resources and equipment to improve service delivery.
He also commended Akintunde for what he described as his achievements during his first six months leading OGWAMA despite limited resources.
The governor expressed optimism that the provision of more compactors and other waste management equipment would enable the OGWAMA managing director to further transform the authority and improve its operations across the state.
