By: Onwa Ekor, Calabar
Cross River government has warned residents of the state against flouting the monthly environmental sanitation order, as it is binding on all, in spite of status or placement.
The State Commissioner for Environment, Hon. Moses Osogi, who conveyed government’s position while speaking to journalists recently, noted with dismay the flagrant breach of order by residents during the recent sanitation exercise.
According to him, “some were found loitering the streets, exercising, and engaging in their normal businesses at sanitation period,” assuring that “such untoward attitudes will no longer be condoned as prosecution awaits defaulters.”
He enjoined residents of the State to participate actively in the monthly sanitation exercise as a deliberate attempt to return Cross River back to its pride of place as the cleanest state in Nigeria.
“Anyone who is moving freely on the street rather than partaking in the exercise to show solidarity in government’s efforts to return Cross River to its status as the cleanest state in Nigeria, would be arrested and prosecuted by our mobile courts henceforth.
“A total number of 6 mobile courts have been set up across the state to prosecute defaulters across the urban areas which includes: Calabar South, Calabar Municipal, Ikom, Ogoja, Ugep and Obudu.
“More mobile courts would come up in subsequent exercises,” Osogi said.
The Commissioner expressed satisfaction at some residents’ high level cooperation, and disclosed that plans to reward the cleanest street have been concluded and that appropriate indices would be used to assess eventual winners.
He promised to inject new innovations into supervision and enforcement of the monthly environmental sanitation in a bid to improve and sustain the exercise.
Major markets and streets in the Calabar metropolis were inspected by the Commissioner and his team during the exercise.
