The Gombe State government has called on residents of the state to avoid indiscriminate waste disposal, especially dumping of plastic waste.
Permanent Secretary of the state’s Ministry of Environment and Forest Resources, Malam Abubakar Hassan, made the call yesterday during a Road Walk to commemorate the World Environment Day.
He outlined some of the measures recommended by the United Nations in controlling plastic waste such as “reuse of plastics, recycling of plastics and making laws against indiscriminate dumping of plastic wastes.”
In his remark, the North-East zone Director of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Mr Charles Joshua, urged the public to recycle empty plastic instead of dumping them to become a hazard.
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“People can earn a living and actually make money from plastic wastes instead of indiscriminately disposing, which would cause harm to the environment and affect everyone,” Joshua said.
The Senior District Head of Gombe, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abubakar Umar, appealed to the state and federal governments to support the Ministry of Environment and Forest Resources in performing the important task of protecting the environment.
He said when the ministry is fully supported, it would perform its function optimally and ensure people live in a clean and healthy environment.
Our correspondent reports that this year’s World Environment Day has a theme, “Solution to Plastic Pollution.”