MONDAY, 03 DECEMBER 2012 00:00 REMI FEYISIPO, IBADAN

As part of efforts towards making Oyo one of the cleanest in the country, the state government has inaugurated 39 mini refuse trucks for 13 local government areas in the state.

The government recently embarked on sanitation and beautification exercises with the introduction of environmental sanitation on every Thursday apart from Saturday end of the month one. Ibadan and Aba had earlier been adjudged by UNDP as the dirtiest in the country and West Aftica

Abiola Ajimobi, Oyo State governor while launching the mini trucks in Ibadan, said that the resolve of the government to clean the state and make it one of the neatest remained unshakeable. According to him, the state had lost so much by its being considered as a place where filthy people inhabit, thus scaring away investors and those who could have helped develop the state.

“Today, at the launch of these mini refuse trucks, we are fulfilling a major kernel of our promise to the good people of Oyo State to institute an urban renewal programme that will reposition our state and our people as lovers of a clean environment and the aesthetics that go with it,” he said.

The governor said the procurement of the trucks was based on the requests of thirteen local government councils in the state, while the remaining twenty local government councils with agro-based inclinations opted to be provided with tractors and other farm implements.

The governor explained that the provision of the trucks would enhance clean environment while also calling on the people to cooperate with the government by cultivating the habit of healthy living.

“Our administration will leave no stone unturned in making sure that Oyo State wears a new toga of a clean and aesthetic state, as against the general belief that we are a filthy people, which we are not.

This is why I call on the people of Oyo to cooperate with this administration in ensuring that the efforts of government at ensuring a clean environment are fulfilled,” he said. Explaining the rationale for the demolition of some structures under the Molete bridge and in the Dugbe area of the state capital, the governor said the people must obey town planning rules.

“We do not have any interest in destroying the livelihood of our people. But it is also incumbent on us all to adhere to rules and regulations of town planning in not erecting houses or stalls on set-backs and in not selling our wares at designated road paths” the governor said.

Earlier in his speech, the Chairman of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Oyo State branch, Yekeen Popoola, had said that the provision of the trucks would address the delay in the evacuation of refuse in the local governments where the trucks were designated.

Some of the local government caretaker chairmen promised to make good use of the refuse trucks, stating that the government’s gesture would go a long way in preventing outbreak of epidemics and other communicable diseases.

The eleven local governments in Ibadan, as well as two councils of Ogo Oluwa and Ogbomosho North, were the beneficiaries of the trucks distributed at three per local government.

http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/city-file/city-file/48365-oyo-inaugurates-39-mini-refuse-trucks

Oyo is progressing day-by-day.

Oyo's cleanliness is in progress and infrastructure developmental programs are in place.