Abia agency seeks private partnership in provision of habitable environment.
The General Manager of Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA), Mazi Ogbonnaya Okereke has called on private enterprises operating in the state to assist the state government in ensuring a clean and habitable environment for the residents.
Speaking while receiving representatives of GZI, a leading manufacturer of aluminium and beverage cans based in Aba on a visit to donate protective kits for ASEPA workers, Mazi Okereke said that the task of good governance and building a better society should not be left to government alone but with the collaboration and cooperation of all stakeholders.
He appreciated GZI for being alive to its Extended Personal Responsibility, EPP, and Corporate Social Responsibility, (CSR) and emphasized that what they have done was significant and underscores the firm belief of the Company to identify and align with the new Abia piloted by Gov Alex Otti who he noted is steadily delivering value, changing lives and improving the livelihood and fortunes of Abians.
Mazi Okereke enjoined other companies in the state to emulate the laudable initiative of GZI in properly clothing and motivating our workers in the discharge of their duties and described GZI as a good corporate entity that pays their taxes and has gone this appreciated extra.
Mazi Okereke urged GZI not to relent in the discharge of their Corporate Social Responsibility of assisting immensely in ensuring that Abia environment are likened to Rwanda, Singapore among other cities and countries of the world doing well in waste management.
On his part, the member representing Ohafia South State Constituency and House Committee Chairman on Environment, Hon. Kalu Mba-Nwoko said that what GZI Company has done was in line with the objectives of HAB 31: A Bill seeking to establish Abia State Polluter Pays and Extended Producer Responsibility for the Management of Non-biodegradable Packaging Materials and for other matters before the State House of Assembly.
He stated that the bill aimed at re-awakening the consciousness of companies operating in the state to be alive to their Corporate Social Responsibility of complementing the efforts of the state government in the area of waste management.
Mba-Nwoko regretted that Abians especially the Association of Table Waters Producers (ATWAP), are misconstruing what the bill seeks to achieve, adding that instead of weighing what Abia stands to gain in terms of environmental cleanliness, they are looking at the penalty attached for defaulting.
He commended GZI for already keying into the principles of the bill which is to ensure environmental cleanliness and ensure that Private Companies partner government in this regard, assured that a copy of the bill would be sent to them before the passage of bill into law.
Also speaking, the Deputy General Manager, ASEPA in charge of Ohafia Zone, Peter Ekekwe, lauded GZI for being alive to its responsibilities, admitting that the Protective Kits would assist personnel of the Agency in discharging their duties creditably.
Earlier in his speech, the representative of GZI, Mr. Obi Nwankwo, said that the improvement in environmental cleanliness of the state since the current administration mounted the saddle captured their attention, hence the need to donate the Protective Kits to assist the Agency in discharging its duties of proper waste management.
He revealed that GZI has over the years carried out Corporate Social Responsibility even in Aba, pointing out that in the Western part of the country, they have embarked on various mouthwatering projects aimed at assisting the efforts of various states government to ensure clean environment.
Mr Nwankwo commended the ASEPA GM for a good job been done and urged the agency to sustain what they have started, saying, “I believe that ASEPA will not be like some organization that companies bring vehicle. If you see that vehicle in the next two months, you will regret giving it to them. And that’s why we are doing it. Because we have seen what ASEPA has been doing.
