The Kwara State Ministry of Environment and Kwara State Environmental Protection Agency (KWEPA) has been urged to be proactive in carrying out their responsibilities of managing and protecting the environment.
The head of both organizations were urged to step out from the comfort of their office, to carry out consistent field activities, because only through field observation and enforcement of environmental laws can they succeed in delivering on their mandate.
While speaking on a popular radio program “Eto Wa” by leading Pro democracy group, Kwara Must Change on Sobi over the weekend, guests on the program berated the commissioner for environment and General Manager of Kwepa for their non charllant attitudes towards their job.
One of the guest, Hon Lanre Babadudu narrated how he intercepted huge truck of waste being dumped around Sango and Harmony estate by suspected waste consultant engaged by the environment body, aswell as members of the public.
Babadudu blamed the irresponsible conduct on lack of oversight by the ministry, which he said deserved to be probed.
“While coming to the radio program, I came across a truck offloading waste within an Sango and Harmony estate, not designated for waste disposal and I find it strange that even consultant engaged by the ministry and Kwepa to collect waste could be this bold to dump waste in an unapproved location”
Babadudu maintained that, the last time we spoke about this subject, those concerned are quick to protest our opinion, but I reiterate that the commissioner for environment and General Manager of Kwepa needs to be probed and if they are not capable of managing their current office, they should be redeployed, he said.
Another guest, Comrade Yusuf Moyosore blamed the consistent disregard for environmental law to lack of enforcement by the authorities.
According to Yusuf, people will naturally commit crime, unless there’s deterrence in form of sanctions and punishment.
“The inability of the authorities to enforce law and sanction perpetrators is the driving force behind the continuous disregard to environmental law and he called on the authorities to step up their game.
Another guest, Abdulateef Babafila also narrated the ugly situation at Judges Quarters, aswell as Oloje area, in which waste are being used to liter the environment, despite the presence of waste bin.
He noted that government is spending huge resources to ensure clean environment, but the inability of the ministry to be proactive in dealing with the situation has made government investment less impactful.
Babafila questioned the competence of the commissioner for environment, saying the ministry and Kwepa should have deployed human resources to monitor strategic areas on a consistent basis and ensure culprits are adequately dealt with.
He noted that, environmental job cannot be done from the office, it has to be a field job and the ministry and agency must step out of their office to ensure they get result.
