Frank Nweke Jr, the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance APGA has revealed plans to relocate the dumpsite at Ugwu Onyeama and turn Enugu’s waste into wealth.
Lamenting the state of the dumpsite and its position at the entrance of the capital city, the governorship candidate highlighted the risks the open dump site posed for citizens in the State in a statement released to the Press on Monday, December 5, 2022.
“The waste dump at Ugwu Onyeama is an open sore. It’s the shame of Enugu, that the first thing that confronts citizens and visitors into our beautiful state capital is this open waste dump, under perpetual incineration with smoke polluting the air, constituting a health hazard to all.
“It directly contaminates a river which flows through the location and the water is consumed downstream. This dump is a potent testimony to the visionless-ness and ineptitude of the current PDP administration in the state and underscores the importance of quality leadership in public governance.”
Going further, he enumerated twelve key steps he would take to address the problem of sanitation in the State if elected as the governor in the 2023 elections.
1. Immediately stopping the open incineration of waste at this site and reclaim and remedy the already contaminated land.
2. Resuscitate – ESWAMA by appointing competent management for the agency.
3. Resuscitate the public waste collection system through the deployment of the appropriate modern equipment
4. Establish a modern waste management and transfer system and a sorting site – properly engineered to avoid pollution and soil contamination. Waste will not be dumped on our roads or their sides.
5. Work with the private sector to establish waste to gas and power plants and a recycling plants for waste that cannot be converted to power such as plastics.
6. Embark on a massive public values orientation program to mobilize citizens to partner with government to clean our state through a 3R campaign – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
7. Establish an incentive reward system to encourage communities and neighborhoods to compete to clean our communities.
8. Emplace a deliberate policy to protect our environment and green our communities.
9. Mainstream the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in our schools and communities, and a holistic Environmental Sustainability and Sanitation program into our education curriculum.
10. Over the next four years, invest in a comprehensive WASH policy & programs to ensure that all 17 Local Government Areas in Enugu State are ODF certified (Open Defecation Free).
11. Work with stakeholders and the State House of Assembly to enact and implement legislation on climate action, single use plastic, and overall environmental sustainability.
12. Invest in a strategic and sustainable Tree planting campaign of economic trees to address deforestation and improve Enugu’s economy and environment. And make Enugu one of the top ten Green and Clean places in Africa.
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