By Maduabuchi Nmeribeh/Kano
Kano state Commissioner for Environment, Hon. Nasiru Sule Garo, has tasked residents of Sabon Gari on the need to maintain clean and healthy environment, warning them on the health hazards and negative effects of environmental pollution.
Our Correspondent reports that Sabon Gari, a non-native settlement within the metropolitan ancient commercial city of Kano, is reputed as one of the high-risk areas in terms of environmental pollution.
However, while receiving representatives of residents of Ballat Hughes and Sarki Yarki Roads, all located within the Sabon Gari enclave, in his office, the Commissioner urged them to complement government’s efforts towards ensuring that the heaps of refuse littered on the streets of Sabon Gari are removed.
He tasked them to desist from throwing waste into the drainages and water ways to allow free-flow of water, particularly, during the rainy season.
Sule Garo also observed that part of the causes of bad roads in the area is due to indiscriminate disposal of refuse and garbages which in most cases cause flooding and road damage.
He tasked residents of the area to complement government’s efforts by ensuring regular sanitation exercise and clearing their drainages and water ways to allow free flow of water during the rainy season.
A statement by Ismail Garba Gwammaja, Director, Public Enlightenment in the Ministry of Environment, indicated that the Commissioner said, “government is passionate and committed to improve the living standard of its teeming populace regardless of tribes or religion to make their environment more habitable and conducive for living.”
He advised residents, “to always do the needful by desisting from polluting the environment with garbage and a faeces, or any particles capable of obstructing free flow of water system which may eventually cause stagnation, breed mosquitoes, and make our roads inaccessible, among other complications.
“People need to come together to put hands on desk with the government for actualization of its mandates, and pledged to look into their request with a view to finding lasting solutions.”
Speaking on behalf of the delegation, Mrs. Scholastica Umejesi informed the Commissioner that they were at his office to congratulate him for his well deserved appointment and also to intimate him on some of the environmental issues bedevilling their areas which need urgent government intervention.
Similarly, the Commissioner also received Matasa Gardeners Association who called on him in his office, and renewed their support to government with 2000 seedlings of trees, as part of efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change and desertification.
