Amby Uneze in Owerri
In a determined effort to end open defecation in the State, Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, has declared state of emergency in Water, Sanitation and Hygienic (WASH) sector in the state.
Stakeholders, however, strongly condemned the act of polluting the environment by way of open defecation, necessiating the governor to put necessary steps in motion to ensure that open defecation is stopped in the state.
In the same vein, the state government is planning construction of public toilets across the urban cities in the state.
This was disclosed in Owerri, yesterday by the Managing Director /Chief Executive Officer of the Imo State Water and Sewerage Corporation (ISWSC), Emeka Ugoanyanwu, during the Stakeholders’ Engagement Forum.
At the event attended by the Special Adviser to the Imo State Governor on Urban Water, Tanana Biaduo; the governor’s Special Adviser (Public Enlightenment), Eze Ugochukwu; the Imo State Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Water Engineers (NIWE), Dr. Mike Nwachukwu; Imo Controller, Nigeria Correctional Service, Kingsley Njoku, represented by the Command’s Engineer, Onyenegecha Melford, the ISWA’s Chief executive said: “governor Hope Uzodimma, has since declared a state of emergency in the WASH sector in the state.
According to him, despite the governor’s great progress in the sector, many people in the urban cities practice open defecation.
He said: “We have invited all of you today, including the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), Nigeria Breweries Plc, the Nigeria Correctional Services, Fecal Sludge evacuators, hotel proprietors, etc to chat a new approach to ending open defecation in Imo State… The corporation is proposing the construction of public toilets across urban cities in partnership with corporate organizations and private sector. The public toilets will be wholly managed by the private sector to ensure sustainability.”
Ugoanyanwu regretted that open defecation is real and prevalent in urban cities of Owerri, Okigwe, Orlu etc, adding “Our recent covert studied show that a good percentage of hawkers in Owerri sleep on the street at night and openly defecate along the river banks and waterways.”
In their speeches and presentations, the Special Advisers Urban Water, Tanana Biador; Public Enlightenment, Eze Ugochukwu; the guest lecturer, Prof. Benedicta Uchenna Dike, represented by a lecturer, Dr. Albert Nwoke, noted the need to stop open defecation; being environmentally, hygienically and sanitation friendly to reduce drastically associated illnesses.
On his part, the Imo Controller of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Njoku, hinted that before April 5, 2021, when the unknown gunmen broke the prison gates in Owerri, freeing inmates, there were about 3,000 inmates overstretching the installed capacity of about 900, adding that defecation flowing through the overstretched areas to the outside drainages were not rules out. He noted that the situation was controlled during the last week season.
He, however, stated that efforts are been put in place to put up facilities that would contain the slurs that emit from the facility.
