Council Boss Harps On Environmental Cleanliness

By Abuchi Onwumelu

The Chairman of Ogbaru Local Government Area, Hon. Arinze Awogu, has called on the residents of Okpoko area to care more about their surroundings as well as their personal hygiene.

Hon. Awogu made the call while inspecting the on going desilting of blocked drainage channel at Uwa-Ngbede and Shoe Site Markets which he said caused by indiscriminate dumping of refuge in water channels along Obodo-Ukwu Road.

The visibly angry Council Chairman threatened to close down the markets and lockout residents of the area if the drainage channel and its environs were not cleared.

He also directed the market security which he said would be supported by Ogbaru Disciplinary Corps to arrest and bring to the Council Secretariat or to the police station anyone attempting to dump refuse into the cleared drainage channel.

Briefing the Council bos on the progress of work done, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Community Liaison,  Hon. Hipolitus Obi and the Deputy Chairman of the Local Government, Hon. Onyebuchi Osigwe,  who were supervising the operation, said that the blocked drainage had caused flood water to entered into people’s shops with traders losing their goods and having their wares destroyed.

Some of the shop owners accused evening market traders of being responsible for the blocked drainage as they were said to be in the habit of using the drainage as dustbin.

They expressed happiness over the intervention of the Ogbaru Local Government, assuring that evacuation of the dirts would be completed before the deadline given to them by the Council Chairman.

Hon. Awogu had earlier visited Aba Park where he emphasized that the ban on street trading was still enforced.He decried the continuous harassment of goods owners by stick-wilding illegal revenue collectors on the road and warned that the Local Government would arrest anyone found disobeying government directive on ban on collection of tolls within the Council.

It would be recalled that the Ogbaru Council boss had last week carried out similar clean up operation at Idemili Market, Iyiowa.