Proposal to clean Ipetu Ijesa

We wish to refer to the clarion call made recently by Prof Kola Akeshinro and some  salient contributions made individually by residents and non residents but indigenes of Ipetu Ijesa town on the above subject matter and wish to quickly draw attention of  any interested person or group of persons to our submission.

Various communities contain a wide range of environmental  hazards, some known, others less so. We need to learn how to control most of them, sometimes instinctively, sometimes intentionally. Given the ever-increasing complexity of  our society today, we can no longer rely on instinct alone. Risk must be managed just like any other business function and if not properly and systematically done, the negative impacts are so costly in human and financial terms. For this reason,  we suggest the following approach to tackle the challenge headlong.

OBJECTIVES

To educate and enlighten the people on different health and environmental hazards  accompanying the open disposal of wastes and refuse in different locations in Ipetu Ijesa Town

To Eradicate the open disposal of wastes and refuse in different locations in Ipetu Ijesa using the SMART Approach.

To provide a feasible alternative to open waste and refuse disposal in Ipetu Ijesa Town

PRAGMATIC QUESTIONS TO ASK

How does the Owners of Private Clinics and even Government Hospitals dispose their medical wastes.

How does owners of schools, businesses of various kinds e.g. pure water manufacturers dispose their wastes in Ipetu Ijesa

How does individual households dispose of their wastes

THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Women and Children constitute the greater percentage of population in Ipetu Ijesa Town and they are the most culpable  of perpetuating this health and environmental hazardous behavior and ironically they are the most vulnerable.

The resultant effect of this unhealthy environmental hazards is that, if not checked on time and appropriately, this practice may lead to serious health epidemic that will certainly affect the large percentage of the entire population of the town.

The impact on the environment can also take the form of flood especially now that we are in the raining season. These practices can lead to flood as the drainages and flood plains may be blocked thereby causing flood.

PRACTICAL AND FEASIBLE COMMUNITY MOBILISATION DRIVE

The following are the proposed community development partners whose supports are germane to the success of the project:

Community Leaders who represent different wards (Ojogbon) that constitute Ipetu Ijesa as well as political representatives in different wards in Ipetu Ijesa.

Religious leaders in different religious groups in Ipetu Ijesa

Professionals and experts in Health care professions

School Administrators and Owners of Private Schools in Ipetu Ijesa

Iyalojas and Babalojas

Heads of different Artisans groups and Business groups in Ipetu Ijesa (Bricklayers Associations, Owners and Tippers Associations, Hoteliers, Welders, Carpentry Associations , clinics and hospitals etc

Professional and Government Agencies and parastatals e.g. the Police , Civil Defense, FRSC, The Air Force Personnel at the Air Force Base , the University Community in Ipetu Ijesa

STEP BY STEP ACTIVITIES  NEEDED TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS

Education and Awareness  creation on Health, Environmental as well as Hazards Identification and Control with particular reference to open waste disposal and its negative implication on the community.

Identify at  least one location in one ojogbon where refuse dump could be  located

Inauguration of Community Response  for  Clean Neighbourhood (CORECLEAN) volunteers in each community.

The CORECLEAN core mandate shall be:

To ensure proper collection and disposal of refuse in different communities in Ipetu Ijesa. This could be done by getting one or two Waste Disposal Vans which will move around regularly perhaps every Saturday to collect refuse from each household.

For the maintenance of these refuse collection vans, a token shall be charged per refuse collected from each household.  The vehicle procurement could be anchored on  the political promises by political office holders representing Ipetu Ijesa in the state and federal constituencies as part of their contributions towards their constituencies.

Also individual who wishes to invest in such business can also procure the van.

There must be a committee in charge of this Public Private Partnership inaugurated and which must have a mechanism in place for its sustainability.

There must be a collectively agreed penalty on anybody or any household found culpable of open waste disposals.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION PLANS

Input

There must be awareness creation and education on the need to stop and discontinue the practice of open waste disposal. This awareness creation must be strategically planned for proper reach

For the sustainability of the project, the community sense of ownership of the project must be established.

The project must be able to sustain itself once it kicks off without necessarily waiting for government to fund it.

However, some government agencies in charge of environmental management, health and safety professional supports should be sought to ensure successful take off, implementation and enforcement of the program.

Output and Outcome

Even as there is no empirical statistics as to the health implication of this unhealthy practice of open waste disposal in Ipetu Ijesa, there are pockets of anecdotal evidences that proper disposal of wastes shall certainly reduce cases of related sicknesses within the community.

There must be  the community sense of ownership of the project by the entire stakeholders in the community. It MUST not be sectionalized or politicized or hijacked by any political , social or religious group even as their support is necessary for the success of the program

The resultant impact of this project shall be felt and seen in and around Ipetu Ijesa community as there shall be cleaner Ipetu Ijesa.

CONCLUSION: This is not a one man effort but collective effort at making our town and to many of us our birth place a wonderful sight to behold. If it must succeed, my effort, your contributions and everybody support is needed. And the time is now. There is no need for split, division or polarization. All hands must be on the deck.