The task of clearing 500 tonnes of waste in Borno

In fact it was in recognition of this feat that the federal government, through its intervention scheme of Municipal Solid Waste Management programme, recently donated a compactor truck to the state to assist it rid the state capital, Maiduguri, and its environs, of solid waste.
The compactor, according to sources at the federal ministry of environment, was acquired with support from the Ecological Funds in January but could not be delivered to Borno State due to the security challenges there.
Handing over the truck to the state in Abuja, last week, the Minister of Environment Mrs Laurentia Mallam bemoaned the inability of the third-tier of government to pay adequate attention to issues of waste management.
She said: “Statutorily, the management of municipal solid waste is the primary responsibility of municipal authorities. However, it has been discovered that the third tier of government is incapable of dealing with the changes due to lack of political will, expertise and resources to manage the waste. It is in light of this that the federal government stepped in to assist in proper management of these wastes by way of intervention programmes and projects which includes the Integrated Waste Management Facility (IWMF), National Plastic Waste Recycling, and Scrap Metal Recycling.”
The minister who was represented by Mr Abdulkazeem Bayero, Director of Pollution Control at the ministry, said the menace of municipal solid waste, exacerbated by urban migration, population, industrialisation and change in consumption patterns amongst others, was one of the gravest environmental challenges in the country.
She noted that the compactor truck was being provided to the Borno State government to assist it in its onerous task of municipal solid waste collection and disposal in the state.
Receiving the truck on behalf of the state, Comrade Nasiru Surundi, General Manager/ Sole Administrator of BOSEPA, said the truck would be put to use in Maiduguri metropolis and Jere LGA, considering the volume of the waste generated in those areas.
He said the presence of the truck would spur them to put in more effort in clearing the waste generated by residents of the towns.
“We thank the federal government for recognising us because we had thought we were neglected but by giving us this truck we know we are being recognised and that we are still in the thinking of government,” he added.
He said that the state government has spent N27million to clear the waste, adding that plans were underway to source energy from the waste.
“The waste collection within the town is almost about 35tonnes daily within a particular unit and we have about 27 wards and in every ward we have 7 units where refuse are dumped, at the end of the month, we are collecting over 500 tonnes of waste,” he said.
Mr. Charles Ikeah, a Deputy Director in the ministry said that federal ministry of environment, in collaboration with the Ecological Fund Office, introduced the intervention project on solid waste management, leading to the procurement and supply of compactors trucks to various state governments to assist them on solid waste collection.
He said: “It is on this note that this truck is bought and given to Borno State government to assist in managing their solid waste and we are hoping that this project will go round other states.”
 Borno municipality, according to the BOSEPA boss, was noted for its huge refuse generation with Kumshe being one of the most notorious, taking the agency over two months to rid the place of refuse.
The state, according to BOSEPA, has recently acquired 1,500 plastic dustbins which would be positioned in strategic locations within the municipality for residents to dump their wastes, adding that all was set to distribute over 470,000 polythene bags to residents that are living in areas that would not be assessed by the compactor truck.