Some sort of confusion on which agency of the state government, will henceforth, take charge of refuse collection and disposal in Imo State is in the offing.
The signing into law of a Waste management agency by Governor Hope Uzodinma will bring more confusion to the environmental architecture of the state which is already plagued by untidiness.
Fueling the confusion within the ambit of environmental architecture of the State is an existing faulty set up or organogram, which comprises of the State Commissioner of Environment and Sanitation, a Special Adviser on Sanitation,
who acts as General Manager of ENTRACO, the statutory body saddled with the task of refuse collection and disposal in the state.
To make matters worse, there is a Committee on Sanitation, whose functions are not clearly spelt out, but adds up to the chaos in the entire environmental set up of the State. Such chaotic arrangement has not achieved much as Owerri and environs are still riddled with filth.
The Waste Management Agency- which will come on board soon- with the signing into law by Governor Hope Uzodinma, will add more confusion to the entire set up, more so when the state governmen,t has clearly failed to draw the line of duties between the new born agency and ENTRACO.
Accenting to the Bill on Waste Management Agency, Governor Uzodimma noted that with the Law on Waste management agency in place, indiscriminate dumping of refuse in the State and its evacuation will be a thing of the past as the offenders will be liable to heavy fines.
He further stated that waste management has become a big business all over the civilized world and that with the law in place, our waste will be converted into wealth.
“Government will recycle the waste for the purpose of wealth creation,” the governor said.
He pointed out that with the law in place, ENTRACO will be entrepreneurial and creative in Waste Management disposal.
If Governor Uzodinma’s postulation for setting up the waste management agency is anything to by, then it appears there will be duplication of functions between the new agency and ENTRACO, on the basis that ENTRACO is already saddled with the task of refuse collection and disposal. He has not clearly separated the two.
If the purpose of creating the Waste management agency is to recycle waste only and “convert our waste into wealth”, it is needless, because such special responsibility could have been effectively carried out by ENTRACO, which only requires re- tooling to take up the task given to the newly created waste management agency
At a period, the Federal Government government, is cutting down the size of government by reducing or scrapping the number of unproductive agencies and parastatals, Imo State is regrettably creating a needless agency whose functions are already embedded with an existing agency.
INNONEWS
