Oyo Govt moves to end open defecation

The Oyo State Government says it is putting in place measures to stop open defecation by providing mobile toilets and water in rural communities in the state.

The Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Kehinde Ayoola, made this known in Ibadan on Tuesday while addressing newsmen at the commemoration of the 2019 World Toilet Day.

Ayoola said that government was taking proactive steps to stop open defecation in the state through the state’s Rural Water and Sanitation Programme.

He said that the present administration would take seriously the business of recycling in the state, saying that the step would enhance its waste-to-wealth potential.

He appealed to residents of the state to cooperate with government, “as the transition to a new waste management era would result into community-based waste management in the state’’.

“We appeal to our people to please co-operate with Gov. Seyi Makinde-led administration.

“We are transiting into a new waste management era and we would start experiencing community-based waste management system,” Ayoola said.

The commissioner further said that government had mobilised trucks across the state and was gladly helping in clearing refuse and waste till the menace of indiscriminate dumping of refuse would be resolved.

Ayoola said that the state government through the Ministry of Environment had identified prospective transfer loading stations, which would help the waste-to-wealth initiative of the state government.

The World Toilet Day is an official United Nations International observance day on Nov.19, to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.