In Calabar, church leads in environmental sanitation

The gutters were also over-flowing with human and other wastes so that flies and mosquitoes bred well and endangered the health of the residents.
Also, not only did dangerous reptiles such as snakes, giant rats, rodents and other hostile reptiles had comfortable accommodation in the gutters, but residential houses were at risk because of the stagnant flood water that surrounded them.
Neither the local government nor the residents mobilised efforts to work on these important link streets by constantly clearing and decongesting the them and the gutters for their safety! They allowed the streets to become deplorable.
In order to save lives of not only the residents but also those of passers-by, last week a faith-based organisation, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint, mobilised its members to several parts of the Calabar metropolis to help clear such streets and paint public structures as part of their public service, done annually every August.
Last year, they took time to plant trees and flowers on some streets and strategic points in some major towns and encouraged the residents to do same.
This year, they have concentrated energy and resources at environmental sanitation, especially unblocking gutters and beautifying public arenas.
A resident of one of the newly beautified streets, Mr Emaeyak Imohowo, said before, they had difficulty getting to their houses and also constantly lived in fear of dangerous reptiles and robbers that lurked around.
“We are happy to come out and join hands with these church people to cut the grasses and clear the gutters, because the roads were very bad and impassable due to stagnant pools of water and overgrown weeds. Many of us had to park our cars at places far away from home. But if we maintain the present state, I think we can easily access the streets,” he said.
President of the church in Cross River State, Victor Offiong Bassey, said: “We took particular interest in these two major streets which were abandoned by residents for reasons of safety and security. We saw that they were heavily congested and the gutters were haven for dangerous reptiles and could pose real hazard to the people.  We met with some of the residents about our intention to clear the overgrown weeds and decongest the gutters and they consented. So we decided to come out en masse and with their help we have made them passable again.”
The public affairs director of the church, Mrs Franca Odok, also said, “We did not stop at these streets, we were also at the popular Marian market where our members helped to clear the heaps of waste and the gutters, and also painted the overhead bridge. We were also at the SOS abandoned children’s village where we donated and weeded the grass.”
Bishop Charles Egbo said their action was a way of supporting the government to ensure a healthy environment for the people.
Encouraging other groups to emulate the example of the church, Commissioner for Information, Chief Akin Rickett, said the state government was particular about the aesthetic state of the metropolis as they were poised to sustain its leading status as the cleanest capital city and tourism haven.