Date: 2016-08-29

Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS) has procured 40 tricycles for prompt collection and evacuation of garbage within Ilorin metropolis.

The garbage collectors would soon be delivered and deployed in major areas for timely dumping of refuse beginning from September. Executive Chairman of the service, Dr Muritala Awodun, who disclosed this in Ilorin yesterday, said the measure would discourage residents from indiscriminate refuse dump in drainages anytime it rains.

He said the initiative was part of community impact project of the agency, adding that refuse evacuation would be done with the provision of garbage nylon to residents free. Awodun stated that incessant damage on the roads was the handiwork of residents resulting from refuse in drainages.

He said many people trivialize dumping of refuse on drainages as a primordial practice oblivious of the colossal damages, which in turn was caused to the roads, well being of motorists and lifespan of such roads. The KWIRS chairman maintained that the service had de-silted drainages in major areas within Ilorin to allow free flow of water when it rains.

In the same vein, Awodun stated that the agency also embarked on repair of some roads within the state capital that had been in deplorable condition. The KWIRS boss, who said the palliative was being carried out in concert with the state Ministry of Works and the state Road Maintenance Agency, noted that KWIRS was concerned with potholes that had littered major roads in Ilorin.

Explaining that the service was not usurping the role of KWARMA on road maintenance, Awodun said his agency discovered that the ministry and the road maintenance agency were helpless in fixing the roads hence its decision to intervene.

"We have discovered that it is because people throw dirty objects into drainages that they get blocked. And when it rains, the water has no way to move and it has to move to the road and begin to damage it. And if there must be pothole free roads in Kwara, there is a relationship between it and our environment. And the people that are throwing dirts into drainages must know that they are the one responsible for the damages you are seeing on our roads.

"So, the sensitization is to create awareness and let them know that they are responsible for the damages and if they stop it then we would see better roads. What we have started is to mobilize people to begin to clear those drainages", he said.

He noted that every citizen wanted desirable change without readiness to turn new leaf, saying change transcends lip service. Awodun maintained that the agency was focusing on the environment and roads in line with its objective to make people feel the social responsibility impact of the agency.

Source: HeraldNews