The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, has blamed the poor sanitary condition and environmental degradation in our communities on indiscipline and the failure of the society to do the needful.
Bello stated this at the inauguration of the Households and Community-based Sanitation exercise on Saturday at Kurudu, a suburb of Abuja.
He said that if the society and its institutions carry out their statutory duties professionally and diligently, the issue of dirty environment would not have arisen.
He said that if the professionals in the building industry involved in city planning had done the planning well by providing dump refuse sites, the people would have not been dumping refuse by the roadsides or on road dividers.
The minister said that daily dirty habits and lack of effective enforcement had also contributed immensely to the poor sanitary condition.
He said that every aspect of the society had a role to play in order to keep the entire environment clean as well as green.
He, therefore, called for holistic change of attitude “as the government cannot come to clean our houses for us’’.
“Unless we tackle all these and change our attitude, we would continue to flounder in dirt which of course is unacceptable to this administration,” he said.
Bello charged residents of the Abuja Municipal Area Council to go extra mile to be exceptionally clean.
“Because the Council hosts the Federal Capital City, Mr President, members of the National Assembly as well as the members of the diplomatic corps.
“If any Area Council could afford to be dirty, then certainly it is not AMAC.
“The ‘Clean and Green’ exercise is unique in its totality as it carries two messages at once, cleaning and greening,” he said.
The minister said that the community-based approach to environmental sanitation would lead to a more realistic and sustainable effort in maintaining the environment.
Bello enjoined the Council Chairmen, Traditional rulers and community leaders to organise their communities to tackle refuse littering in the Territory to ensure a clean and healthy environment.
Earlier, the Minister of Environment, Hajiya Amina Mohammed, expressed happiness over the collaboration of FCTA with the Federal Ministry of Environment on “Environmental Sanitation”.
Amina said the collaboration was to ensure the provision of clean environment for healthy living in the Territory, and assured of her strong commitment to make the collaboration sustainable.
She stressed that an environment with filth and dirt constituted so much public health hazards to the people and, therefore, called for concerted efforts to rid our habitats of dirt.
Amina was represented at the occasion by the Director of Special Duties in the Ministry, Okunnu Kehinde.
In a welcome address, the Chairman of the Abuja Municipal Area Council, Mr Micah Jiba, thanked the minister for introducing the Household and Community Sanitation exercise.
He said that it would go a long way in reducing incidences of avoidable diseases in the Territory.
The FCT Permanent Secretary, Babatope Ajakaiye, the Executive Secretary of the FCDA, Adamu Ismaila, FCT Directors and the traditional rulers of Karu and Karshi also attended the programme.(NAN)