Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA) has arrested and prosecuted 108 waste offenders in Abeokuta, the state capital, for indiscriminate dumping of refuse in public places.
The offenders were caught by OGWAMA’s Enforcement Team while dumping refuse on roadsides, public places, and medians in different parts of Abeokuta.
Special Adviser to the Governor on OGWAMA, Farook Akintunde, stated that the waste offenders’ actions violated the state’s waste management law.
Akintunde said that the waste offenders had been prosecuted in various customary courts in the state capital and fined to deter others.
He said, “Despite the government’s efforts to collect waste from residents’ doorsteps, some still choose to dump waste in inappropriate places, defacing the state’s environment.
“It’s just unfortunate that we have to go this route to stop some of our people from dumping waste indiscriminately on roadsides and in public places.
“We have sensitised, appealed and even encouraged them to handover their waste to Private Sector Participants (PSP) assigned to their areas for proper waste disposal but to no avail.
“Aside from this, dumping waste indiscriminately is not safe, as it can lead to flooding and contaminate groundwater during this rainy season, which the state government will not allow.”
Akintunde, therefore, called on residents dumping waste on roadsides and medians statewide to desist from such act or face the consequences in the court of law.
He said that, henceforth the state government, through OGWAMA, would not fold its hands and allow a few individuals to deface the environment through indiscriminate refuse dumping and unlawful environmental practices.
The Guardian
