BY MUSDAPHA ILO

The Borno State Environmental Protection Agency, BOSEPA, has said that it would henceforth strictly enforce environmental and sanitation laws and ensure that persons who breaches them are sanctioned.

The general manager of the agency Nasiru Ali Surundi, while speaking to journalists in his office on Monday, said that BOSEPA has to take firm steps against people who dump refuse in drainages to prevent and tackle the problem of flooding in Maiduguri and its environs.

“Anyone who catches someone dumping refuse in a drainage will be rewarded with N5, 000, while the culprit will be fined N10,000. which I believe will help in controlling refuse dumping in drainages, which is one of the factors causing flooding in Maiduguri and its environs,” Sarundi stated.

He disclosed that BOSEPA would soon send a Bill to the Borno State House of Assembly that would strengthen the sanitation courts to make them more effective, adding that the agency would also be recruiting about 300 sanitation youth vanguards to enforce the law when enacted.

The BOSEPA boss assured the people of the state that his agency would continue to do its best to clear drainages in Maiduguri, the capital. He said that all drainages and refuse dumps the metropolis had been evacuated along with those in Bolori, Bulablin Nganaram, Hausari, Shehuri, adding that work would soon start in Federal Low Cost area.

Surundi appealed to relevant agencies of government in the state to join hands in tackling environmental problems in the state, pointing out that there is need for collaboration among government agencies at all levels.

He also disclosed that the federal government had awarded a contract for the establishment of a N250 million waste recycling plant in Borno State, which he said would help in creating jobs to the youths of the state.