Tafa, Jere towns Enjoy Cleaner and Healthier Environment as Company Evacuates Refuse
Zainab Tanimu
Kadun, North-West, NIGERIA
Committed towards maxing Kaduna State government cleaner and healthier and as part of her Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), ZL Global Alliance Nigeria limited, a waste management company has commenced the evacuation of hips of refuse dumped by the road side at Tafa and Jere which serves as gateway into Kaduna State.
Zl global alliance is the company engaged by the state government to evacuate and manage waste in Kaduna, Kafanchan and Zaria since 2016.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Dr.Abiola Bashorun said, though Tafa and Jere was not part of their responsibility in the engagement contract, she thought it wise to evacuate the hips of refuse at her own cost and as part of her CSR to the state, owing to the fact that Tafa and Jere towns are gateways into the state and the hips of refuse does not give the state a good image.
Represented by the company’s Head of Operations, Madam Joy Ogenyi, the MD/CEO said it was not the first time her company is engaging on such CSR in the state. She added that as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility, (CSR) the company is committed towards making Kaduna state cleaner and healthier.
She said, “We look at the areas of need in the state and see what we can do in terms of friendly environment especially health issue and welfare of people around such areas which is part of our CSR.
“This is Tafa, the gateway to Kaduna State. Some people may have wrong impression about Kaduna State especially those coming into the state for the first time. So, we are doing this to intervene and compliment government’s efforts towards making Kaduna State great again.
“This is the third time we would be doing this. We did it last two years, last year and we are doing this now. We are working in the state and we felt it should be done.
“One fact one cannot take away from this community is the fact that, it is not actually the people that are generating this heavy refuse, but the tankers’ drivers and their supporting staff, when they got here, they park, wash their vehicles and dispose all manners of dirt thereby making it difficult to control. The way forward is to get these tankers a place to park where they can be adequately managed.
“We have spent a lot of resources though I may not be able to give the figure off hand, but when you look at the equipment and the personnel deployed for this special operation, you will see its in millions and if government is ready to extend our services to the area, we are up to the task”, she added.
“Tafa is very important to us because of the number of big trucks that park and operate there. It is the gateway to Kaduna from the FCT and a lot of retail businesses are ongoing there. As the rains are going, the risk of lassa fever is very high and close communities like Tafa are quite vulnerable.
“Also, we do not want the fire outbreaks that happened before to repeat itself as the refuse will cause greater havoc if there is a spark. We have workers there trying to maintain the situation and keep it under control, but the rate of waste generation is too high here and outweighs that of waste evacuation. We are praying that Kaduna State Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources address the issue in their 2019 budget” she prayed.
Meanwhile, the Marafan Jere, Alhaji Garba Usman who was on ground to witness the commencement of the evacuation said, “As traditional leaders, we will continue to sensitize our people about the danger associated with indiscriminate dumping of refuse to the community, our children and nursing mother’s who were majorly at the receiving end of disease outbreaks. So, we thank this company for coming to our rescue again as we have witnessed sometimes in the past.
“We are aware the federal government provided a place for the trailers and tankers and for sometime, they were not here and the area was a bit save from refuse. But maybe, they were not adequately guided, they are back here and also the refuse.”
