THE Acting Director, Department of Environmental Health Pollution Control in the State Ministry of Environment, Beautification and Ecology, Mrs Edith Ike, over the weekend says Mobile Courts will soon commence prosecution of people who violate environmental sanitation laws across the 21 Local Government Areas of the state.

Ike said the Court would sanction anyone who fails to comply with movement restriction orders and those who do not participate in cleaning up their surrounding or who dispose of waste materials indiscriminately.

According to her, this Month’s Sanitation exercise recorded partial compliance as there was a movement of people and vehicles in almost all parts of the Awka capital city including Ifite road, Secretariats road, Arthur Eze Avenue and Zik’s Avenue.

While most shops were under lock and key, some others were open doing business at Aroma, Ifite Awka and at Nkwo Amaenyi, where the market was in full swing doing brisk business.

The story was the same at Eke Awka Market, Eke Amawbia and UNIZIK temporary site junction where traders were seen displaying their wares while commercial vehicles both town service and intercity drivers were also loading their vehicles.

The Acting Director, who commented on the poor compliance by the people stressed the need for sustained awareness and attitudinal change towards a friendly disposition to the environment that would encourage people to imbibe the habit of maintaining clean and healthy environment always, while appealing on security and other enforcement agencies in the State should assist the ministry to enforce the law.

She made clear that in addition to complying with movement restriction order, people should equally participate in practical terms in cleaning up their surroundings, markets and drainage system and also appealed to the Media, Churches, and community leaders to assist in sensitising the people on the danger of unhealthy environment.

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In their separate reactions, the Head of Enforcement and Compliance Unit of the Ministry, Mr Okechukwu Olidibe and a member of Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra State, Hon Emmanuel Uzo said they were working with the Ministry to enforce the movement restriction order and disclosed that they had earlier forced some filling stations and shops that opened for business to close and participate in the sanitation exercise.

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