Management of ZLGA has absolved the company of any blame following the temporary closure of Igbatoro/Imafon road dumpsite on Thursday, Match 7, 2024 by the Ondo State Waste Management Authority.
Media officer of the company, Olusola Favour said that the company has always been up and doing in ensuring a cleaner, greener and healthier environment in Ondo State.
He however, lamented that the dumpsite closure could have been avoided if necessary and urgent consideration had been given to the letter earlier written by the company to the concerned government agencies.
While reacting to the temporary closure of the Igbatoro/Imafon dumpsite at the company’s office in Akure on Thursday, Favour said ZLGA saw the situation coming on February 16, 2024 and promptly wrote a letter titled “Notification of Impending Fire Outbreak At Dumpsites (Proposed Intervention)” to the Administrative Secretary of Ondo State Ministry of Environment and the General Manager of Ondo State Waste Management Authority.
Favour added that it was expressly and specifically stated in the letter that urgent and complete maintenance of the dumpsite situated along Igbatoro/Imafon road had become necessary to avoid fire outbreak and spilling of waste outside the facility.
He lamented that the letter written and submitted on February 16, 2024 was not dignified with a reply; while the concerned agency only went ahead with a decision of temporary closure on March 7, 2024.
The ZLGA Media officer further said that the company also specifically called for the overhauling maintenance of Igbatoro/Imafon dumpsite to avoid a repeat of fire outbreak incidents that happened at the site in 2018/2019 and also at the Ifon site in January 2024.
Favour also explained that the fund allocated by the state government for the maintenance of dumpsites in Akure, Ondo and Ore has realistically become grossly inadequate.
He equally lamented that the Public Private Partnership on integrated waste, where most of the income streams required for project viability have been adjusted out of the project in the process of amendments and renewal.
The Media officer also revealed that the company had on February 16, 2024 sought collaboration with the agency in charge of environment for urgent solution to the pressing environmental issues. He added that a proposed cost for the complete maintenance of the Igbatoro/Imafon road dumpsite was likewise made available to the concerned government agency, without any response.
Meanwhile, Favour further revealed that the dumpsites in Ondo, Ore, Owo, Okitipupa and Igbokoda require urgent maintenance. The maintenance, according to the Media officer has become necessary because the government had allowed settlement of houses, crèches and other facilities beyond the approved circumference distance from the dumpsites.
He equally expressed worry that some illegal dumpsites were beginning to spring up in some parts of Ondo State and the ugly occurrence deserves immediate arrest.
He however assured that ZLGA will continue to go the extra mile and collaborate with the agencies of government to ensure a cleaner, greener and healthier environment in the Sunshine State.
