The Kano State Refuse Management and Sanitation Board has cautioned roadside traders and other businesses against dumping refuse on roads and inside drainage channels.
The Managing Director of the board, Dr Muhammad Salisu-Khalil, gave the warning in a statement issued in Kano on Tuesday by the Public Relations Officer, Abubakar Ahmad.
The board specifically urged traders who sell boiled or roasted maize and other food items along major roads to provide waste bins at their business locations and ensure that refuse generated from their activities is properly disposed of.
It identified France Road, Katsina Road, Maiduguri Road, Zaria Road and Zoo Road as some of the areas where traders must pay greater attention to sanitation.
The board said some maize vendors had been disposing of maize husks, cobs and other waste on roads and in drainage channels, contributing to blocked waterways and environmental pollution.
The statement quoted Salisu-Khalil as saying, “Those who are doing business along France Road, Katsina Road, Maiduguri Road, Zaria Road and Zoo Road should maintain proper sanitation.”
He added that indiscriminate dumping of waste could undermine efforts to keep the state clean and create conditions that could affect the environment and public health.
According to the board, it carries out street sweeping, refuse evacuation and environmental sanitation exercises across the state daily. However, it expressed concern that some traders return to previously cleaned locations to dump waste.
The board described environmental sanitation as a shared responsibility and warned that it would continue to enforce relevant sanitation laws.
It said offenders would be dealt with in accordance with due process and could face prosecution before an environmental sanitation court.
The board stressed that its enforcement efforts were not intended to stop residents from earning a living but to ensure that commercial activities were conducted in a clean and environmentally responsible manner.
