Traders in Kwara State have been warned against environmental pollution and indiscriminate dumping of refuse in market places in order not to jeopardise the health of the citizens.
The Acting General Manager of the Kwara State Environmental Protection Agency (KWEPA), Hajia Idayat Folorunsho, gave the warning during a routine environmental check across the major markets within the capital city of Ilorin.
Hajia Folorunsho, who noted the State Government’s strides at ensuring a clean and healthy environment, insisted that such efforts should be complemented by traders through consistent sanitary measures and proper evacuation of wastes in the markets.
The General Manager, who was represented by the Chief Environmental Officer, Alhaji Yunusa Jida, reiterated the sensitivity of the markets as a converging point for all and sundry to source for their foodstuffs and other groceries, adding that keeping the markets clean at all times becomes imperative to prevent the outbreak of epidemics.
She cautioned that indiscriminate dumping of refuse around the market areas, and other environmental vices capable of inviting flies and other pests, should be shunned to curb the upsurge of pandemic as well as other preventable diseases.
Folorunsho, however, stressed that it was mandatory for all traders and shop owners to observe the Thursday weekly market environmental sanitation from 7:00 am to 10:00 am as directed by the State Ministry of Environment, warning that contraventions of the State environmental laws would attract appropriate sanctions.
The KWEPA team which visited markets such as Ita Amadu, Maraba, Ipata and Oja-Oba, inspected the environmental sanitation exercise in the markets and ensured that environmental laws were obeyed.