TheHILL.
The management of Akwa Ibom Mechanic Village, located along Abak Road in Uyo, the State capital, may have their day in court in the next 14 days if the sanitary conditions of the Automotive aftermarket is not met, according to the State government.
Angered by piles of neglected scrapheap which have been left for over a decade, the Chairman, Akwa Ibom State Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency (AKSEPWMA), Prince Akpan Ikim, stressed that a serious sanitation exercise was necessary within the village to ensure the cleanness of its environment.
Ikim handed down the instruction while on a monitoring tour to the market during the February edition of the state-wide environmental sanitation exercise.
The tour unraveled neglected heaps of waste at various illegal dump points within the square, that have been of a perennial stay.
It was also discovered that the market does not have a functional waste management system as its environment was defaced with spate of unevacauted waste.
Worried by the situation, the AKSEPWMA boss decried the impending environmental and public health hazard that could ensue, and ordered within 14 days the evacuation of the neglected waste at the area.
“On several occasions, I had sensitized the management on proper waste management in this automotive aftermarket, but I am shocked that it fell on deaf ears. I am giving an ultimatum of 14 days, else they will have their day in court,” IKim said.
The chairman also frowned that the management does not channel the sanitation levy from occupants of the market on the right course of managing the waste generated in the area, describing the situation as smacking of underhandedness.
“We have found out that shop occupants are levied on sanitation and waste generation, where and to what purpose has the levy been committed?, he wondered.
In another development, the management of a private radio station in the State; Passion FM – the major partner in the February sanitation exercise, during the tour, conferred an award of excellent performance to the AKSEPWMA chairman for the “uncommon drive of the agency at sustaining the cleanliness status of the state”.
IKim used the occasion to call on residents to place premium on sanitary of their environment, saying it will uphold the beauty, cleanliness and healthiness of every occupant.
