Provost, Oyo State College of Health Science and Technology, Ibadan, Mr Siji Ganiyu has said waste continues to dot medians and roadsides in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital because the rate of the collection does not match the rate at which waste is generated.
Addressing journalists at the college hall in Ibadan, Ganiyu said the waste management problem facing the state is at both the generation and collection ends.
Noting that residents pump out domestic waste to the medians on an hourly basis, Ganiyu questioned how many people in the state had a proper means of waste disposal.
He stressed that the waste management challenge that the state grappled with was enormous as domestic waste generated daily is even more than industrial waste generated.
He said the college proposed waste sorting from the source of generation such that residents sort their waste into organic and inorganic.
Speaking, Ganiyu added that the people need to be sensitized on waste sorting and the fact that the waste they generate can also be a source of wealth.
He added that the college is keen on the need for effective partnership between environmental health officers, various host communities and the state government on efficient management of domestic waste.
Ganiyu said: “The issue is that generation is higher than the rate we collect. We have problems with generation and collection. We generate waste every hour and that is why you see waste on our medians.
“How many people have means of disposal at their household level because the government cannot do it alone? All industrial waste is not as much as our household daily generated waste.
“The college is doing a project of sorting from the source; waste sorting into organic and inorganic so that from the source of generation, we sort it out.
“The waste from my end can be a source of wealth. We are working on the environmental health department in the college partnering with the state government.
“In the environmental health department here, we have a biogas project, that is, converting waste to biogas for everyday use. We are working with relevant stakeholders to ensure that we have it on a higher scale so that we can tackle the issue of domestic waste management.
“We have proposed to the Ibadan Solid Waste Management Authority for partnership and we are training environmental health officers to partner with the Ministry of Environment and the host local government on management of domestic waste.”
Speaking in the same vein, Chairman, Governing Council of the college, Dr Aaron Ogundiwin said there is need for behavioural change by each resident of the state regarding waste disposal.
Aside from attitude towards waste disposal, Ogundiwin also frowned at the fact that residents across the state still engage in open defecation, calling also for behavioural change.
To end open defecation, Ogundiwin demanded that building plans should pass through environmental health offices before approval by town planners to ensure that there are provisions for conveniences in buildings.
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