Oyo to tackle open defecation with distribution of mobile toilets

OYO State Government is set to unveil not less than fifty mobile toilets to be placed at strategic locations in the state with the aim of eradicating open defecation.

The Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Dr. Abdulateef Oyeleke stated this while addressing newsmen in Ibadan.

Dr Oyeleke, at the weekend said the mobile toilets would be situated at locations for the conveniences of pedestrians, passengers and travellers in an attempt to ensuring that the environment is not polluted.

He added that the step would not only stop the spread of diseases such as Cholera, Typhoid and Diarrhoea, but also check other ravaging diseases that are threats to human existence.

“The toilets will be placed in locations like markets, garages and other public places to eliminate health risks associated with open defecation and promote personal hygiene,” Dr Oyeleke noted.

The Commissioner enjoined the people of the state to support the policy of clean and green initiative of the present administration, as the Environmental Health Officers and Task Force Team would soon be directed to arrest and prosecute anyone caught defecating in the open.

In the same vein, not less than ten tricycles were received by the Ministry of Environment for evacuation of recycle waste within local government areas in the State.

Dr Oyeleke said the initiative would not only enhance the efforts of the present administration in the clean and green policy and to attain a sustainable environment that is capable of promoting the economic growth and wellbeing of the entire citizenry but will also reduce the incidence of flood which usually occurs when it rains as a result of blocked drainage through indiscriminate dumping of refuse inside drainages, water ways and other open spaces.

The Commissioner added that it will also provide job opportunities for the youths as a local investor has been engaged and mandated to set up a modern recycling facility in the State within the next six months of his partnership with Oyo State Government.

In a remark, the Managing Director of the company, Mottainai, Mr. Ade Adewuyi stated that the concept of this initiative is to start paying for recyclable waste materials, while also engaging youths in the state in the process termed circular economy.