The dumpers who clog gutters and canals with garbages may be subject to other forms of punishment as stipulated by law if caught.
Displeased by the emerging culture of dumping trash in drainages with the intention of them being washed away by flood or rain water, the Commissioner for Environment, Chief Chris. Onogba made it clear that it cost the state government huge resources to de-silt these drains and avert floods.
The Commissioner, who was at Obomkpa, Ukwu-Nzu and Owanta communities to inspect work done on the erosion control (gully) undertaken by the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), charged the contractors to sustain the momentum and deliver the project before the rains.
Particularly, Onogba was impressed by the quality of job by the indigenous contractor (EmmyBless Construction Company) and pace of execution, adding that they had suppressed the initial doubts expressed in some quarters by their performance.
‘’The rate at which people use our drains as dumpsites beats imagination. The drains are not dumpsites but our people have this erroneous belief that the rains will evacuate the wastes but that is not true. It is until the people allow these drains to be functional, that is when they can serve their purpose.
‘’We are also going to deploy the State Taskforce on Environment to monitor these drains. Do not forget that the government has committed huge resources into these projects and if the people do not take ownership of these projects and sustainable, the purpose would have been defeated.
‘’We will keep sensitizing them but beyond that, we will also do some enforcement. If anyone is caught, he/she will be made to face the law. If those living around these gully sites were told that the government will intervene, they would not have believed but today we have done it.
‘’So, they should desist from using these projects (drains) as dumpsites. This must stop because if anyone is caught, he will be held responsible for the entire stretch and also go to prison for it’’ Onogba said.
He expressed optimism that NEWMAP will be extended as talks were ongoing with World Bank, even as he did mention that efforts were in top gear to domesticate the agency in the state for sustainability.
