By Uche Chukwuma
THE Permanent Secretary, Delta State Ministry of Environment, Dr. Mrs. Minnie Oseji, weekend monitored the monthly sanitation exercise in Asaba, Delta State capital.
Dr. Oseji, in company of her team, toured parts of Asaba where, though there was no restriction of movement, said the ministry was satisfied with the level of compliance, inspite of the fact that there was no restriction of movement.
She confirmed that many residents complied with the clearing and cleaning of their environments.
In an interview withjournalists shortly after the monitoring exercise, the permanent secretary expressed satisfaction with residents compliance of keeping their environment clean and for also maintaining the needed environmental hygiene.
She said it is expected that people keep their environment clean on daily basis, however, it is good they also comply with government directive on monthly sanitation exercise. “Today, we have gone round a lot of places in Asaba. We have seen that on the whole, our finding is average. A lot of places are being kept clean,drainages are also cleared.
Their surroundings are clean, overgrown weeds have been taken care of. We also met some people working. “I will say that on the overall, we are satisfied. However, we still noticed that there are still some drainages cleared and dumped. It is the responsibility of the person clearing the drains to arrange for the refuse bags, tie them and then the Private Sector Participants (PSPs)they registered with will evacuate them as at when due. “The practice of clearing drains, leaving them and allowing rains to push them back to the drainage is not helping the system. It is the blocked drains that cause flooding. We are doing everything possible to control and reduce flooding in the state ,” She stated.
