BY DAVIS OBOJOBO
RESIDENTS of Okpaka Community in Udu Council area of Delta State, in the early hours of yesterday, came out in large numbers to clean their surroundings.
The residents, who were mostly male, were seen using cutlasses to cut the overgrown weeds in their surroundings while others were using shovels and rake to evacuate dirties from the drainages.
Some of the residents, who partook in the sanitation exercise, said the announcement by the Okpaka town Cryer the previous evening that residents should come out to clean their surroundings alerted them on the need to come out to avoid harassment from the community representatives who were monitoring the cleaning exercise.
While others, who spoke said they usually used every last Saturday of the month to cut overgrown weeds to avoid reptiles and snakes in their environments.
Recall that the directive by the Delta State Government through the Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Ejiro Jamani urging residents of the state to partake in the monthly environmental sanitation exercise for the month of August between the hours of 7.00 a.m. and 10.00 a.m.
Though the exercise was without the usual restriction of human and vehicular movement, the government advised residents to cut overgrown weeds, desilt their drainages and keep their environment clean to prevent the spread of diseases, stressing that it was the responsibility of all residents to clean 20 metres radius of their premises. This month’s sanitation exercise in Okpaka Community was supervised by the Community Vigilantes.
