The Oyo State Government on Saturday sealed up some houses and shops at Academy area of Ibadan over alleged unhygienic practices.
The buildings were shut down during the sensitisation and enforcement campaign to commemorate the 2022 World Clean-up Day.
The Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr Abiodun Oni, said owners/occupiers of the sealed structures violated environmental laws and failed to comply with the laid down hygienic practices.
The commissioner, who was represented by the Special Adviser on Environment, Mr Ademola Aderinto, said the exercise was done to ensure compliance with environmental hygiene and prevent possible outbreak of any form of disease.
He said that the affected owners/occupiers of the buildings were responsible for heaps of refuse dumped in the area, close to Academy Market and along the main roads.
He also observed that the erring occupiers/owners did not have adequate waste bins to keep their wastes.
He pointed out that environmental health officers had earlier visited the affected buildings to admonish the owners to do the needful but they failed to do so.
The Oyo State Government in collaboration with its Waste management consultant – Mottainai Recycling Ltd., recovered 5,170 kg of plastic wastes and 1,100 kilograms of cartons in the clean-up activities carried out in the academy area.
The exercise was also used to sensitise and educate market women to how a waste-free environment can foster better customer interactions and increase sales.
The commissioner appealed to residents to key into the government’s environmental blueprint.
According to him, market places are by nature unkempt with practices that are harmful to the ecosystem.
“But Oyo State Government believes that with education and enforcement, we can make both the sellers and the customers understand the importance of a neat location for business transactions,” he said.
Commenting on the campaign, the Chief Sustainability Officer, Mottainai Recycling Ltd, Ms Deborah Fadeyi, explained that the initiative was borne out of the need “to ensure Oyo State is clean”.
“We are commemorating the World Clean-up Day in a very unconventional way, with the market people.
“We are here to show them how waste can be turned to wealth.”
Fadeyi said Mottainai Recycling Ltd, as the Government approved Waste manager, would ensure adequate provision of necessary information on environmental sanitation in the state.
Also, the Chief Operating Officer, Ms Oluwaseun Fashukanmi, explained that the exercise was to draw attention to the immense financial opportunities of waste pick-up and recycling in their various communities.
Fashukanmi said the exercise would also let the public to be aware of the threats of waste and pollution to human life and the survival of the ecosystem.
