Oyo moves to end open defecation, kick-starts community-based waste management

Oyo State Government has said that it is putting in place measures to stop open defecation by providing mobile toilets and water in rural communities across the state.

The state’s Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Kehinde Ayoola, who disclosed this yesterday while addressing newsmen on activities to mark the World Toilet Day in Ibadan, said the state government had been proactive in stopping open defecation through the state’s rural water and sanitation programme.

The commissioner also promised to take seriously the business of recycling in the state, saying that the step would increase its waste to wealth potentials.

He appealed to residents of the state to co-operate with the government, as the transition to a new waste management era would result into community-based waste management in the state.

“We appeal to our people to please co-operate with the Seyi Makinde-led administration. We are transiting into a new waste management era and we would start experiencing community-based waste management system.

“We have mobilised trucks from all the nooks and crannies of the state, and they are gladly helping us out in clearing refuse till we find a lasting solution to the menace,” he said.

Ayoola also said that the dumpsites in the state were not adequate, adding that the government has started rehabilitating the dumpsites while plans are also in top gear to create sanitary landfills.

Besides, he said that the government had identified prospective transfer loading stations, which would help the waste to wealth initiative of the state government.

He said that the World Toilet Day, which is an official United Nations (UN) international observance day, commemorated every November 19, aimed to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.