The commission’s head of environmental and natural resources, Adamu Lawan, disclosed this in Gombe State at the opening of a week training for 100 scavengers and 50 trainers on efficient waste management practices and A-Z of recycling.
According to him, the move is to encourage the youths in waste gathering, noting that the planned compensation for refuse/waste scavengers is to further discourage youths from social menace.
Adamu said the waste gathered would determine the plant to be built by the commission.
He said, “We feel there should be a way to convert social waste to either resources or products; we just want them out of the street.
“We, however, rely on the state government to determine the rightful beneficiaries, hence, our collaboration with the ministry of environment. In the end, the materials will be sold out to companies.
“The NEDC is already working on the Phase II, perhaps by the next phase, it will be in each of the senatorial districts and subsequently the Local Government Areas.
“The NEDC intends to reach the LGAs and have a recycling plant, where the waste materials would be taken and recycled to more useful things.”
Also speaking, the state Director-General/Focal Person of the Commission in Gombe, Shehu Abdullahi, urged the participants to tap into the opportunity to develop themselves towards more financial resources.
On his part, Ishaku Kure from the Ministry of Environment said the training was timely and essential noting that the state would save costs.
“Gombe State government is spending a huge amount of money on waste disposal and sanitation but with this training now we believe it will cut down our financial budget in that area and also create revenue for the scavengers,” he said.
The Resource Person from the Federal University, Kashere, Department of Resources Management, Prof. Bibi Mohammed, explained the significance of waste management. He said, “One of the problems the world is confronting is the issue of waste management.
“The existing established authorities are handicapped and don’t have the technical cap, resources, finance, and so on to maintain and effectively manage artificial waste. That is where the scavengers come in to improve on the deficiencies of the existing authorities. Huge wealth abounds in waste management.”
