Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has warned the people of the state against indiscriminate dumping of refuse, saying henceforth, authorities will begin a clamp down on offenders of environmental laws.
Ortom who gave the charge in Makurdi while flagging off the use of rehabilitated sanitation equipment, urged residents to
drop their refuse at designated refuse dumps for easy evacuation by the Benue State Environmental Sanitation Authority, BENSESA.
He disclosed that about N100 million was used to procure some of the new equipments and vehilces and to rehabilitate some of the waste trucks and skip bucket which were down for years.
The Governor who said he was impressed by the improvement recorded by the new leadership of BENSESA, said it was part of his administration’s renewed efforts to improve environmental conditions in Makurdi, the state capital and the entire state at large.
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He urged the public to join hands with BENSESA to ensure the state is clean at all times adding that sanitation laws would be enforced strictly by BENSESA in collaboration with security agencies and the judiciary to ensure that offenders are brought to book.
Gov. Ortom noted that with time, every household would be mandated to have dustbin where refuse would be collected by the sanitation authority.
He also promised to lift ban on employment by the first quarter of next year to absorb most casual workers at the agency and others working elsewhere in the state.
Commissioner for Water Resources and Environment, Dondu Ahire and the General Manager of BENSESA, Solomon Onah, thanked to Governor for his support to the ministry and its agencies and pledged to make the state one of the cleanest in the country.
Onah also pleaded with the Governor to offset the arrears of stipend paid to sanitation workers in the agency who are on casual basis.
He also appealed to him to absorb them into the state civil service to boost their moral for optimal service.
