The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has commissioned a N477 million worth of mechanical waste management equipment in its renewed drive to keep Abuja clean and safe.
Blueprint reports that the equipment are eight global M3 (3000MX) street sweepers, four LN50 litter pickers and two roll-on roll-off trucks, and they would deployed to areas with high litter generation activities.
Commissioning the equipment, the Minister of the FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed, said they were procured to improve the sanitation standard of the city.
He said: “The street sweepers and mechanical litter pickers will be deployed to areas of high refuse generation activities like bus stops, event centres and markets amongst others.
“The need for a clean and healthy environment in a city like Abuja cannot be over emphasised. It is against this background that the FCT administration has diligently evolved a programme of environmental sanitation and sustainable development, which include clean air, proper waste management, combating earth and water pollution as well as the conversation of natural resources among others.”
The minister expressed hope that the new equipment would enhance the operational capacity of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, AEPB, which is the custodian of the equipment.
He said contracts for the supply of more waste management equipment for the AEPB had been awarded with the intention of adequately addressing the challenge of aging and obsolete equipment which have plagued the board “for some time now.”
The contracts includes supply of 28 refuse compacting trucks, two sewage trucks, four additional roll-on roll-off trucks and two 30-tonne tippers.
He said there was the need for regular maintenance of the equipment, and charged the board to evolve a healthy maintenance culture to ensure their durability and longer life span.
The minister pledged that his administration would endavour to provide the necessary logistics and budgetary provision for the sustenance of the initiative as he task residents to promptly pay their environmental service charges.
In her welcome address, the Director, AEPB, Mrs. Aishat Adebayo, said the administration is also building three waste transfer stations to improve the turnaround in waste collection services.
She, however, appealed to Abuja residents to take responsibility for their immediate environment, desist from indiscriminate littering, urination, defecating and embrace proper waste disposal as well as prompt settlement of their service charge.