NEWS
ASEPA Takes Waste Management to Next Level, Sets Date for Commissioning of Recycling Plant in Aba
Ogbonnia Okereke
ASEPA GM
This new level will entail the modern collection of waste at the point of generation, focusing on residential areas and business premises.
State Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu disclosed this in Umuahia, Monday, while briefing newsmen on the outcome of this week’s Executive Council meeting chaired by Governor Alex Otti.
Kanu added that the Agency is poised to run a hybrid that will involve central collection of waste in markets and some specific areas with high traffic, population and narrow or arterial roads.
He pointed out that ASEPA is also on the verge of implementing their new tariffs and rates across the state, noting that the State government will offer some assistance in that regard as waste disposal is a social service.
“However, the citizens will to a reasonable extent, bear some burden in terms of paying some tariffs for waste disposal, services, to make the process more viable and efficient, Kanu stated.
Prince Kanu sought the assistance of the members of the public to help ASEPA and other agencies of government to monitor government’s assets against the activities of social deviants.
“In this wise, they need to monitor the activities of scrap dealers who tamper with ASEPA buckets.
“We have instances of scrap dealers who steal or remove ASEPA buckets, so we need members of the public to take ownership of these assets and help in monitoring the activities of such unscrupulous individuals in the society.
“They also need to be wary of some criminals and members of a syndicate who defraud members of the public in the name of ASEPA.
“We are using this opportunity to encourage members of the public to report suspected cases of extortion of people to the Harmonized Task Force and other law enforcement agencies.,” the Information Commissioner stated.
Responding to questions, the General Manager Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA), Mazi Ogbonnia Okereke disclosed that a big recycling company is setting up a plastic recycling plant in Aba.
Okereke said the plant would be commissioned during the 2025 World Recycling Day on the 18th of March 2025.
He said the state government is partnering many organizations to set up similar processing and recycling plants in the state and explained the planned next level the government is taking waste management to.
“We started with collection (waste collection) so to speak, but now, we want to move into the next level at recycling. We are transmitting from a linear economy to circular economy in the area of waste management .
“What we are saying in essence is that instead of wasting the waste we can always find a way of something else we can do with it. We are in talks with different groups, different organisations to discuss how they can partner with us in these areas,” Mazi Okereke stated.
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