By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Some houses and shops within the Academy market in Ibadan have been sealed by the Oyo State Government for allegedly violating environmental laws and failing to comply with the laid down hygienic practices.
The Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr Abiodun Oni, said on Saturday that the government will not tolerate unhygienic practices from residents.
The affected properties were accused of being responsible for heaps of waste dumped in the marketplace and along the main roads as they do not have adequate waste bins for their wastes.
Mr Oni, who spoke via the Special Adviser on Environment, Mr Ademola Aderinto, further stated that the buildings were sealed off during the ongoing sensitisation and enforcement campaign to commemorate this year’s World Clean-up Day.
He said the exercise was done to ensure total compliance with environmental hygiene and prevent a possible outbreak of any disease, pointing out that Environmental Health officers had earlier visited the affected buildings and told the owners to do the needful but they failed to do so.
Also, as part of activities marking this year’s World Clean-up Day, the Oyo State Government and Mottainai Recycling Ltd recovered 5,170 kilograms of plastic waste in the clean-up activities carried out in the Academy community market in Ibadan.
In addition, the team recovered 1,100 kilograms of cartons from the market.
He appealed to residents to key into the Oyo State Government’s environmental blueprint.
“Marketplaces are by nature unkempt with practices that are harmful to the ecosystem, but the Oyo State Government believes that with continuous sensitisation and enforcement, we can make the traders understand the importance of a neat location for business,” he said.
Speaking on the campaign, Managing Director, Mottainai Recycling Ltd, Mr Adey Adewuyi, explained that the initiative was borne out of the need to ensure Oyo State is clean.
Mr Adewuyi, who spoke through the Chief Sustainability Officer, Mottainai Recycling Ltd, Ms Deborah Fadeyi said, “We are commemorating the World Clean-up Day in a very unconventional way, with the market people. We are here to show them how waste can be turned into wealth.”
Adedapo Adesanya