The Nasarawa State Government has threatened to close down any meat market found culpable in the production of unwholesome and unhygienic products.
Mr Yakubu Kwanta, the state’s Commissioner of Environment and Natural Resources issued the threat in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lafia.
Kwanta was responding to a question on what the state government was doing to stop the sale of polluted meat in some of the markets in the state, especially in Karu Local Area.
A correspondent of NAN who covered one of the state’s monthly sanitation had observed that some meat sellers were in the habit of processing and selling the product close to huge dumpsites jam-packed with maggots.
“We are sending our team there to verify and authenticate this claim.
“If it is genuine, then necessary action will be taken and all defaulters will face the wrath of the law.
“We have our environmental laws and we have the power to sanction, to close shops, and to ban.
“People cannot go about `selling disease’ in the name of meat. By the time we verify this claim and confirm that that environment is not meeting the required standard by existing law,’’ he said.
The commissioner urged people of the state to live a healthy lifestyle by ensuring a clean, hygienic, and safe environment.
“`Wise men have said that cleanliness is next to godliness. Therefore, I want to charge the entire residents of Nasarawa state to embrace healthy lifestyles.
“By the time they make the environment habitable for themselves, they would be creating a safe environment, meaning protection safe for a safe future.
“A healthy environment guarantees the future of our people and the generations to come. So, I’ll call on all of them to embrace the hygiene protocol.
“That is why anyone found breaching the sanitation protocol will be apprehended and sanctioned.
“The last time I visited Karu and participated in environmental sanitation, we apprehended and closed down a public toilet that had constituted a health challenge in the area.
“I’m happy to announce to you that the public toilet operators have complied with the hygiene protocol and everybody in the area is happy now.
“So, this is the kind of progress we are making because the kind of enforcement that we’re practicing is robust. So far, work is in progress,’’ he added. (NAN)
