Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, has said he will, for the coming four weeks, personally manage the environmental sanitation activities in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State.

Ikpeazu further declared a state of emergency in the environmental sanitation of Aba and Umuahia in response to the increasing challenges of waste management in the two metropolitan centres.

A statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Onyebuchi Ememanka, had it that he (Ikpeazu), effective from yesterday, personally, took over sanitation management in the entire Aba metropolis to restore sanity and discipline in the entire system

It will be recalled that Ikpeazu prior to his emergence as governor, was the Deputy Managing Director in charge of Aba Zone in the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA).

The statement also said as a result of the situation, the Governor will, in a matter of days, sign an Executive Order to create distinct waste management authorities in the some Metropolitan Local Government Areas of the State.

In the affected LGAs of Aba North, Aba South, Osisioma Ngwa, Obingwa, Ugwunagbo, Umuahia South and Umuahia North, the new waste management authorities will reduce the burden on the ASEPA.

Ememanka further said the Local Government Waste Managers shall be appointed immediately to superintend over these waste management Authorities in the specified Local Government Areas.

The statement also said that a new method of street to street collection of waste in Aba and its environs will henceforth commence from 5p.m on a daily basis.

He further said that the only approved collection point for wastes is the ASEPA approved buckets placed at strategic points and warned that indiscriminate disposal of refuse shall no longer be allowed.

Ememanka stressed the warning that anyone caught disposing refuse outside those ASEPA buckets would be arrested and prosecuted. (New Telegraph)