By Sadiq Abubakar
Maiduguri
Borno state government will soon purchase a recycling plant to convert the increased tonnage of waste to positive use, the General Manager, Borno State Environmental Protection Agency (BOSEPA), Alhaji Nasiru Surundi, has said.
Surundi stated this yesterday in an interview with newsmen in Maiduguri.
He said the decision was imperative as thousands of tonnes of waste were being generated by the increased population without even a dump site to keep them.
He said in the absence of an approved dump site, the recycling machine would be put to use to ensure that garbage heaps were swept away.
Surundi attributed the annual flooding of some parts of Maiduguri metropolis to the wrong attitude of people towards waste management in the town.
He lamented that unless the residents were ready to change their attitude towards waste disposal and management of same, flood will continue to chase them out of their homes every year.
He said: “People here have I-don’t-care attitude to waste disposal in this town and for as long as they have concluded that the gutters were the right places to dump their mess we will be having floods whenever it rains.
“I agree with you that this problem also has to do with the inability of the relevant authorities to upgrade the master plan of the city since 1967, and this is a function of the urban planning department.
“They have a task before them to upgrade the old Maiduguri by ensuring that while they approve buildings, owners do not build on water ways thereby obstructing free flow of flood water in the town.
“It is frustrating that everybody is hiding under the tag of insurgency to neglect their duties.”
Surundi, therefore, urged the people to always secure their environment to prevent the outbreak of diseases such as malaria, cholera and typhoid.
