Lassa Fever: Agency urged residents to cultivate right attitude towards waste mgt

Anambra State residents have been urged to cultivate right attitude towards proper waste disposal to reduce the burden of infectious diseases in the society.

Speaking to newsmen in Awka, the Managing Director of Anambra State Waste Management Agency, (ASWAMA), Mr Amechi Akora said improper waste management would attract rodents which are the vectors of Lassa fever and other infectious diseases in the country.

He said proper disposal of waste is an indivisible and collective responsibility of everybody to protect the environment and promote healthy living.

He urged families to use cellophane trash bags placed inside a plastic waste bin with cover  and placed behind kitchens which they should tie securely after putting in their waste materials before covering the bin while the trash bags should also be properly tied before disposing them inside waste receptacles in their areas.

Mr Akora explained that indiscriminate dumping of refuse would not only litter the environment but  also block drainage channels during the rainy season which would force water out and threaten the life span roads  and warned  against violations of sanitation laws.

According to him, sanitation levies are not to be paid in cash to anybody but rather into a designated IGR account as specified by State government’s guidelines on revenue collection and disclosed that soon revenue officers with Point of Sale POS machines would be deployed for revenue collection to enhance easy payment.

He said ASWAMA would increase tempo of advocacy and sensitization campaign across the State this year.

Also speaking, a trader, Mrs Beatrice Igwe urged ASWAMA to take more proactive measures to tackle the increasing  practice of dumping waste on roads, especially during the night.