The Ministry of Environment, on Wednesday in Abuja, said it has constructed 12 toilets for Karu International Market in Nassarawa to curtail open defecation.
Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry disclosed this while briefing newsmen on the commemoration of 2019 National Environmental Sanitation Day (NESD).
The 2019 event will be holding on June 28 with the theme: “Stop Open Defecation for Healthy Living”.
Odusote, represented by Mr Yakubu Mohammed, the Director, Special Duties of the ministry, said that the ministry would commission and handover the toilets to the market management as its contribution toward 2019 (NESD).
She said that three male toilets, three female toilets and six urinaries were built for the market.
According to her, the ministry is also donating 15 slabs to Kachingoro, Kpaduma and Apo-Dutse in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
She said that the ministry would sensitise community members and conduct cleaning exercise at Kpadume community.
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Odusote said that the theme of this year underscored the seriousness of the problem of open defecation and its effect on the quality of our environment.
She said that this year’s event called for concerted efforts to address mega environmental health issue for an improved living condition for the Nigerian citizenry.
“Open defecation is a problem that has been with us over a long time and our several approaches and efforts to address this issue have not provided the desired results.
“Access to sanitary facility remains a mirage to a vast majority of our citizenry. Today, 4.5 billion people of the world live without safe toilets and 892 million people still practice open defecation,” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that about six months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari declared a state of emergency on Water Sanitation and Hygiene with emphasis on ending open defecation.
According to her, in an effort to promote clean and safe environment, the ministry and other stakeholders are currently reviewing the National Environmental Sanitation Policy of 2005 and its guidelines on safe excreta and sewage disposal.
She said that recently, the ministry initiated a programme tagged “Clean and Green” and one of its major aims was to end open defecation by 2025.
The permanent secretary charged all stakeholders on environment at the national, state and local government levels not to only do the talking but take practical steps and actions individually and collectively as agents of change. (NAN)