Kano to sanction companies for poor sanitation practices, introduce new rules

The Kano State government has warned that the state government would no longer tolerate the activities of some companies in the state who indiscriminately dump waste materials from their companies anywhere they like.

The Permanent Secretary of state Ministry of Environment, Alhaji Baba Halilu Dantiye, made this warning shortly after his official resumption at the ministry after his transfer from the state’s ministry of Commerce.

According him, some host communities within the state where some of the companies are situated have for long raised the alarm that their communities are been polluted either by unscrupulous release of waste or chemicals from the companies into their local drainages or the release of smoke into the air thereby creating environmental pollution. This he said must be stopped.

” We have to make an example. We would sue to court any company found polluting our state if need be and ensure appropriate disciplinary measures are taking against them. The safety of the people cannot be compromised by the Ganduje’s administration”

Furthermore, he stated that the monthly sanitation observed at the end of every month in the state is not enough as three hours on the last Saturday of every month is definitely not enough to keep the environment clean.

He said that there is the need for more time set aside for sanitation and government officials and traditional rulers should all join hands together in cleaning their environments. That such move would spur the masses into keeping their communities clean.

“We need to educate ourselves that Sanitation shouldn’t be a one day thing and not keeping your environment clean because government says so but a thing we ought to do to maintain a healthy environment.

We would introduce sanitation competition whereby we zone the state into zones lead by government officials and the best zone wins an award. We cannot continue to appreciate how clean some other countries are while we do nothing to improve ours even when we can.”

Dantiye, however, noted that the Ganduje’s administration has done well by purchasing modern equipments for the collection and evacuation of refuse in the state and that the ministry would ensure close monitoring to ensure that the aim for purchasing the equipments is achieved.

Yakubu Salisu, Kano