The Warri, Uvwie and Environs Special Area Development Agency, (WUEDA) has embarked on surprise visits to public and private premises in Effurun to ascertain the level of compliance with environmental laws.
This was after many months of aggressive house to house and mass media sensitization and enlightenment campaigns on the need for residents to keep the metropolis clean at all times.
The Agency’s Task Force, led by one of its Board members, Elder Isaac Itobi, swung into action on Thursday, backed by a Mobil Court set up by the State Chief Judge for that purpose.
The exercise was to ensure that corporate organisations, private individuals, and traders in WUEDA’s mandate areas, complied fully with the state environmental laws, with a view to promoting and sustaining a clean city environment.
The WUEDA Task Force started its check visits at Damos Plaza, and moved to Effurun Garden Park market, Rain Oil petrol station, Mama Kelly Restaurant, Sandtex Paints Shop, and then to electronics shops, along Effurun/Sapele road, Effurun.
Many defaulters who were apprehended for indiscriminate dumping of wastes, and lack of evidence of registration with the Private Sector Participants, PSPs, were all charged to the Mobile Court for prosecution.
The Agency’s Task Force was also at Galili Guest House owned and operated by Uzo Motors and Furnitures, where it was discovered that a pipe was connected from their septic tank into the public drain, constituting an environmental hazard to the public.
At Smile Filling Station, WUEDA Task Force discovered that the sewage had since collapsed, while there was no waste bin provided, just as there was also no evidence of its registration with a PSP.
Also along the Effurun/Sapele road, Effurun, a “banga rice” seller, Miss Tejiri Ikinboro was charged to the Mobile Court for operating in a very filthy environment, and for not registering with a PSP.
Other places visited along Effurun/Sapele road included a mobile restaurant, and a drinking bar beside Thermocool showroom, Eku Plaza, as well as Ogbosu Plaza, where many persons were charged to the Mobile Court for environmental law offences.
The WUEDA Board member, Mr. Isaac Itobi, who is in charge of the Task Force, urged the PSPs to live up to their responsibilities and show capacity, or risk being sanctioned.
The combined Task Force comprises officers from WUEDA’s Environment Dept, the Delta State Waste Management Board, the State Taskforce on Environmental Sanitation, the Uvwie Local Government Environment Department, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, and Mobile Police.
The exercise continues.
SOURCE: Media Dept; WUEDA
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