Abia State Government, on Saturday, arrested 86 sanitation defaulters, warning residents to desist from dumping refuse inside drainages and waterways.
Of the 86, 71 were arrested in the Umuahia area, while 24 were discharged on health grounds and as students. Six persons were asked to do community service in Umuahia.
In Aba, the Sanitary Mobile Court at Obingwa Local Government Area, presided over by Mr Nnanna Kalu, tried 15 defaulters and discharged four persons on health grounds, while others were penalised based on environmental basic law.
Addressing newsmen in Umuahia after the exercise, the state Commissioner for Environment, Philemon Ogbonna, warned residents to desist from dumping refuse inside drainages and waterways, saying that if caught dumping refuse into the drainages, the person “will pay through the nose”.
Ogbonna said the recent flooding recorded in parts of the state was caused by blocked drainages resulting from indiscriminate dumping of waste, especially during rainfall, noting that while the government, through the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency, ASEPA, and other relevant agencies, was working round the clock to keep drains open, some defiant residents still dumped waste into waterways.
“That should stop. They are doing it and going free because nobody has seen them. If we see them, they will pay dearly for it. The weight of the law will fall on that person,” he warned.
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He appealed to Abians to take the three-hour monthly exercise seriously, stressing that the campaign for a clean environment was for the benefit of all and not for government alone.
At Aba, the Commissioner for Environment, Mr Philemon Ogbonna, who was represented by the Officer in Charge of Aba Zone, Mrs Amarachi Goodluck, said traders in various markets were properly educated to ensure that an effective clean-up exercise was achieved and expressed joy that Aba residents complied greatly, urging them not to relent.
He, however, frowned at the attitude of traders who continued to conduct their businesses during the period and described it as sabotage to the administration of Governor Alex Otti.
He encouraged Aba residents to always abide by the policies of the government, which are to make lives better, and observed that many were deliberate in defaulting during the exercise.
