The Delta State task force on environment has swung into action to clean up the state capital, Asaba , Warri and other cities in the state.
Mobile courts have also been constituted to prosecute offenders of environmental laws.
The task force had also been sensitising companies, residents, traders, among others, urging them to turn a new leaf by keeping their environment clean.
Addressing a press conference in Asaba on Monday, Honourable Joan Amechi Mrakpor, Director-General of Asaba Capital Development Authority said the kind of environmental degradation in the state capital gives wrong impression of the state.
According to her, the situation was so bad that it could affect investment in the state.
“Hitherto, the heaps of refuse were noticeable at every corner even as sachets water nylon littered the streets of Asaba and other towns.
“People easily throw away cans of soft drinks, orange and banana peels from moving vehicles without anybody challenging them,” the director-general said, adding that all that were now in the past as culprits would be dealt with in line with the provisions of the law.
The former member of the House of Representatives said all bus stops which had been underutilised would be converted to eateries to be operated by roadside food vendors who would be displaced as a result of the new order.
She stated that the people of the state were being sensitised through radio gingles, town criers, open van announcement, etc,even as she advised residents to make use of the Private Support Participants (PSP) arrangements to dispose their wastes.
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According to the Commissioner for Environment, Mr Chris Onogba, who is also a r member of the task force, part of the new order is to pull down all shanties in strategic locations.
He advised residents in the state to be reasonable and comply with government’s directive to make the towns cleaner.
Also speaking, the chairman of the state Waste Management Board, Mr Emma Chinye, disclosed that a truck pusher, who littered the streets of Asaba with refuse had been sent to prison while the woman that contracted him was fined N35,000 by a magistrate court.
The Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, urged residents to clean their immediate environments and surroundings to make the work of the task force easier.