Worried by the danger posed to their environment by the unsolved problem of industrial waste, the Kano riverine communities have called on the federal government to address the problem with immediate effect.
Addressing a press conference, Wednesday, spokesman of the communities, Dr. Baba Sani Wudil said since 2006, the federal government was aware of the issue of contamination of Wudil River and many other communities affected by environmental problems such as toxic effects, flooding into Wudil and Jakara River from Sharada, Chalawa and Bompai industrial estate.
He said the position known to the communities over the years was the effort of a German group that had planned to build a plant through a local company in order to tackle the problem with the federal government supporting the project for Kano State to benefit from it adding that the German group had in that regard engaged many stakeholders including the state government, emirate council and concerned groups.
“We are shocked at the news that the Ecological Fund Office has decided to deal with unknown contractor in building waste treatment plant for Kano state. The information at our disposal is that the Permanent Secretary from the Ecological Trust Fund has awarded the contract to another firm, instead of the Dutch Africa Company, which is the company that collaborated with the Germans to actualise the project,” he said.
“We hereby appeal to the federal government to ensure that the right thing is done. This will also send signal to public officials to sit up and serve the interest of the public rather than take unpopular decisions against the interest of Nigerians.
“It is our opinion that the contract should be awarded to the most qualified company; Dutch Africa which made all the research and development required to design the best and most efficient method of cleaning the environment and toxic effluent which has been affecting the lives of families, animals and farms,” he stated
