Abia State Governor Dr. Alex Otti has said that the reintroduction of sanitary inspectors in the state was a return to the fundamental value of public health personal responsibility and community hygiene once identified with our people.
Dr. Otti, who spoke at the restoration of Sanitary Health Inspectors Services (Ndi O’le’-Ala) in Abia State, stated that the good old days of qualified health officers’ regular visits help to keep our homes, neighbourhood, and market places clean, safe and disease free.
Represented by his deputy governor, Engr Ikechukwu Emetu, the governor bemoaned that this important practice was allowed to melt into history to the detriment of our environment and health of our people.
He said that the practice was being reintroduced in partnership with other stakeholders in the environmental health in a better, smarter, and more responsive to the realities of the present day and not as punishment or intrusive as the sanitary inspectors would be responsible and professional in educating the people on best health practices and identifying risks therein
The governor said that maintaining or stipulating standard hygiene was key to a clean environment that would prevent outbreaks of cholera, malaria, typhoid, and other communicable diseases.
He equally said that such would attract investment, tourism, and ensuring urban and rural areas are liveable and sustainable.
Dr. Otti challenged the sanitary inspectors to carry out their duties with integrity, empathy, and diligence, insisting that their services must not be just enforcement but partners in building a healthy Abia and assured them that their demands would be looked into.
He further charged traditional rulers, religious leaders, and community stakeholders to support the initiative by creating and mobilising their subjects towards the success of the programme.
The governor equally enjoined Abians to welcome the initiative and cooperate fully in reviving the culture of environmental consciousness and collective responsibility as the task of a clean environment remains a joint responsibility.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Commissioner for Environment, Mr Philemon Ogbonna said that the restoration of Sanitary Inspection Services in the state was not just a policy decision but a decisive leap journey towards building a healthier, cleaner and more resilient Abia.
According to him, our communities have suffered the consequences of poor environmental hygiene, ranging from indiscriminate waste disposal , stagnant water, overgrown premises to unhealthy living conditions, with the ripple effects of rising cases of preventable disease, clogged drains, polluted surroundings, and a general decline in public health standards.
He recalls that Gov. Alex Otti, on the assumption of office, declared a state of emergency on waste management and made it clear from the outset that environmental cleanliness would no longer be a side project but a central pillar of government.
In his message, the President, Environmental Health Officers’ Association of Night, Abia State Chapter, Sanitarian Obieze Adimuko thanked Dr Alex Otti for relaunch of Sanitary inspection in the state as part of the effort of this administration to rejig the state in the area of environmental health as well as reposition environmental health officers in the area of preventative medicine
He further extolled the governor for his developmental projects including the building of additional health centers across the state, five years extension granted to health workers to retire at 65years and payment of CONHESS to primary health care workers as well promised to ensure the realization of this task by given their best in the implementation of this project and seeing to it’s success.
The Sanitary officers appealed to the governor to lift embargo in the employment of qualified Environmental Health Officers to actualised the objective as well as the provision of additional materials that will enable them to work.
Highpoint of the event was the paper presentation on implementation of 2024 National Environmental Health Practice as a Tool for Improving Environmental Sanitation in Abia State as well as goodwill messages from stakeholders in the Environmental health sector including General Manager, Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA), Mr Ogbonnaya Okereke.
