The Ogun State Waste Management Authority has appealed to residents to containerise their waste, rather than exposing it.
The agency gave the advise to residents in a bid to curb the spread of the cholera outbreak stating that containerising waste would facilitate collection and disposal.
In addition, the government threatened to put locals in jail if they disobey the order to stop leaving their waste exposed.
Abayomi Hunye, the Managing Director of OGWAMA, made the request while inspecting the ongoing restoration work at the Kurata Dumpsite in Ota, Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of the state.
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Hunye, in a statement issued on Sunday, stated that residents containerising waste will make refuse collection and disposal easier while also helping to minimise contamination of the environment and, of course, the spread of infectious diseases.
He said “A situation where some residents expose their waste indiscriminately poses a lot of danger because when it rains these refuse will infect the underground water which when not purified will lead to water-borne infestation that will result in diseases like cholera.
“Aside from this, these wastes also find their way to rivers and wetlands which will equally affect all the wells and boreholes in those areas leading to unwanted consequences”.
Hunye advised residents living in regions where waste had been left open to avoid drinking wells, boreholes, and sachet water, as some of them may not be safe for human consumption this time around.
He did, however, tell the locals that OGWAMA would continue to discharge its duty of good waste management and advised them to make the task easier by containerising their waste so that PSPs in their regions could collect it up for disposal.
Hunye stated that waste police officers are also out to arrest people who refuse to comply with this call and direction.
“We want our people to heed this appeal in the interest of the general public so that the cholera issue can be contained as quickly as possible as everything is being done by the state government to rid our state of this disease” he concluded.
