By Stanley Onyekwere
Solid Waste Service and Cleaning Contractors have been enjoined to desist from using dilapidated vehicles in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
According to the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, who gave this charge, waste service providers should invest in waste collection and disposal trucks that are road worthy and clean.
Bello noted that most trucks used in the collection of refuse were rundown and usually constituted a nuisance to residents and other road users on the road.
The Minister spoke when he received a delegation of the Association of Solid Waste Service and Cleaning Contractors led by its Chairman, Mr. Lawrence Agbasogba, on a courtesy visit to the FCT Administration.
He therefore reminded the Contractors that their jobs of refuse collection and disposal will have little effect if the refuse are scattered once more on the street due to the use of dilapidated trucks.
Bello while chastising many of the solid waste service providers for not doing enough in their assignment of refuse disposal and city cleanliness, however commended those living up to the expectation of the Administration in the discharge of their assignment and providing service to residents despite the challengers they encounter.
The Minister equally reiterated the determination of the FCTA to meet its financial obligations to the service providers.
He also revealed that the Administration will rehabilitate the access roads to dumpsites in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as part of efforts to make easy the disposal of refuse in the Territory.
He however assured that work on the roads would be concluded before the commencement of the next rainy season.
According to him, “We are lucky it is now the end of the rainy season, by the grace of God you will see changes there before the next rainy season.”
Earlier, the Chairman of the association had commended the FCT Minister for his efforts at city cleanliness and urged the FCTA to look into the possibility of providing land to be used for parking and maintenance of their trucks.
