Open Defecation: Kwara seals residential building
By Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
In its efforts to put an end to open defecation in the state, an act described as a great threat to environmental health, the Kwara State Environmental Protection Agency (KWEPA) has sealed a residential building at Agba Dam area, Ilorin, the state capital.
General Manager of KWEPA, Alhaji Sa’ad Ayuba Dan-Musa, gave the directive to the concerned Department of the Agency during routine inspection of buildings within the metropolis after the landlord had repeatedly failed to comply with the Agency’s directives on the matter.
Addressing the tenants, Deputy Director, Environment, Mrs Adedotun Olawumi Taiwo, who heads the Waste and Sanitation Department, said: “The building is inhabitable for you as there are no toilet facilities in place and it is detrimental to the health of everyone of you and we are here because it is the duty of the state government to ensure that the health of the citizens and residents of the state is not in any way endangered.”
She added that the landlord does not have their interest at heart, saying “if he does he would have provided toilet facilities and a good soak away system for them in the building.”
Adedotun, however, advised the tenants to look out for standard toilet facilities in houses they may want to rent before paying in the nearest future as open defecation, she added, is one of the major ways by which diseases are contacted.