The Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) has decried the low performance of waste evacuation and cleaning contractors engaged by the Federal Capital Territory Administration to keep Abuja clean.
The Director, Mrs. Kate Ogbonna, gave the assessment during an interactive session with the contractors in Abuja on Friday.
Ogbonna said she was overwhelmed by unsavoury reports from supervisors monitoring the daily performance of the cleaning and waste contractors.
According to her, routine checks by the Board have shown that the contractors are lagging in their tasks.
“The reports at my disposal from our supervisors, who monitor the performance of the contractors, are not too good,” she said.
She called on the contractors to brace up and ensure proper and efficient waste evacuation across the Federal Capital City.
She said the FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, had been keeping his promise of paying contractors on time, stressing that they therefore had no excuse not to deliver on the terms of their agreements.
She acknowledged that challenges were normal in every job and advised the contractors to procure more equipment and engage additional hands where necessary to make their work easier and more seamless.
The director reminded the contractors that they signed the contracts on the grounds that they were capable, and assured them that the Board would assist where necessary.
Ogbonna explained that the meeting was to educate and guide the contractors on the full weight of their duties as waste managers and evaluators.
“We want them to know that there are standards and what we expect from them. We have set rules and agreements guiding their schedules.
“All we want is for the Federal Capital City to be clean,” she said.
Speaking on the indiscriminate dumping of construction waste, the director said the Board was working with the Department of Development Control to ensure such waste is properly disposed of.
She appealed to residents and institutions doing business in the capital city to pay their waste and cleaning bills and procure the right size of waste bins commensurate with their residences and business offices.
She noted that waste removal and management is capital-intensive, adding that residents need to do their part while the Board does its part.
“You cannot be owing and expect clinical waste removed.
“You cannot also have a bin meant for one household for a block of 10 flats and expect it to hold the waste you generate until the contractor’s trucks come around. It will definitely overflow and mess up the environment.
“To ensure Abuja’s capital city remains clean, devoid of pollution and epidemic-free, all must do their part,” she said.
In his remarks, Mr. Benjamin Enwerem, Director of Solid Waste Management at AEPB, said some contractors had complained that much of the waste on the streets was generated by night traders and funfair operators.
“These traders and funfair operators generate waste and litter the whole area, thereby forming illegal waste dumps around residential and business areas.
“We have taken notice of this complaint and we will send our task force after them,” Enwerem said.
On the performance of the contractors, Enwerem said that although there were still lapses, the contractors were improving by the day, noting that additional capable hands had been injected into the cleaning force.
On his part, the Chairman of the Association of Solid Waste Contractors, Ibrahim Babayo, acknowledged the unsatisfactory performance and promised that they would improve.
Babayo also promised that the contractors would procure modern equipment and employ more hands to enhance routine waste evacuation.
