The monthly sanitation exercise for February in Nasarawa State has recorded significant compliance by members of the public.
Speaking with journalists immediately after the exercise, the Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr Ede Yusuf said the exercise experienced full compliance.
He stated that the enforcement teams however faced challenges with some motorists who deliberately violated the State Environmental Sanitation Law.
According to him, mobile courts were active throughout the morning, targeting individuals who were found wandering or engaging in other activities during the restricted hours.
“The majority of arrests involved motorcyclists and tricycle (Keke Napep) operators. While it is impossible to completely ‘separate the wheat from the chaff,’ we did make reasonable number of arrests. Those who failed to comply were prosecuted and fined accordingly,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary clarified that all penalties are treated as state revenues as payment method is directly into state coffers and expressed confidence that all collected funds are being remitted appropriately to boost state resources.
He however regretted that the monitoring team discovered a commercial cassava processing factory operating within a residential area, which the team issued an immediate “cease and desist” order due to the toxic effluent and waste generated by the activity.
The Permanent Secretary explained that entrepreneurship cannot come at the cost of public health.
“A business becomes a disaster when it pollutes the environment and harms others. The effluent and waste from such processing have significant negative environmental effects,” he said.
