The Forum of Sub-contractors for Sweeping and Evacuation of Refuse has penned an open letter to GovernorUmo Eno, the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State, appealing for urgent intervention.

Under the previous administration led by former Governor Udom Emmanuel, the state government engaged subcontractors to maintain the cleanliness of the streets of Uyo, the state capital.

However, Mr. Prince Ikim, the Chairman of Akwa Ibom Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency, abruptly terminated their services.

However, Mr. Prince Ikim, the Chairman of Akwa Ibom Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency, abruptly terminated their services.

The termination of their services has left over 5,000 individuals without employment and has resulted in a significant decline in the cleanliness standards of the state.

In an open letter to Governor Umo Eno, the sub-contractors appealed for urgent intervention in restructuring the sanitation processes, reabsorbing the sacked individuals, and restructuring the Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency to promote transparency and accountability.

Read the open letter below:

His Excellency,
Pastor Umo Eno
Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State,
Government House, Uyo.

20th March, 2024

OPEN LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR OF AKWA IBOM STATE, PASTOR UMO ENO

SOS: A CALL FOR URGENT INTERVENTION BEFORE PRINCE IKIM RUINS THE LIVES OF POOR AKWA IBOM PEOPLE

Background:

Your Excellency, we are sub-contractors who handled the sweeping of streets and evacuation of refuse within Uyo, the state capital, and we were engaged by the state government during the administration of former Governor Udom Emmanuel. As sub-contractors, we were assigned different streets, and in order to deliver the services, we employed several poor Akwa Ibom people whom we either assigned to sweep or evacuate refuse.

Your Excellency, apart from the fact that this arrangement was lucrative in the sense that it provided a legitimate source of income to the workers, it was also very efficient and effective in ensuring that the task of keeping the state capital clean was achieved and consistently too. By engaging the poorest of the poor in the job, we not only assisted the government in lifting many people off the beggars’ curve, but also ensured that those who were employed to sweep the streets or evacuate the refuse were working round the clock. This was a win-win for both the government and the people.

Our dear governor, unfortunately, in the twilight of the last administration, the Chairman of Akwa Ibom Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency, Mr Prince Ikim abruptly terminated our services and by extension, the services of over five thousand (5,000) poor people who were sweeping the streets on daily basis and those who were evacuating the refuse as at when due.

More unfortunately, after many weeks of silence and keeping us in limbo, the only explanation that Prince Ikim eventually gave as the reason for his action was that the new administration does not have money to continue in keeping the state clean.

Your Excellency, until Prince Ikim’s ill-advised action, Akwa Ibom State was consistently being hailed as the most cleanest state in the South-South region with many national awards to that effect. It is therefore not a happenstance that in over one year, the state has failed to measure up in terms of cleanliness with others that were usually trailing us. No thanks to Prince Ikim’s unfortunate action, the level of cleanliness within the state capital has dropped drastically as many streets are frequently littered with dirt while refuse dumps are regularly overfilled, much to the bemoaning of citizens.

Our Prayers:

Your Excellency, in the light of the above, we wish to kindly make the following prayers;

i) That you kindly intervene in the sanitation of the state by restructuring the mode of engaging people for sweeping and waste disposal.

ii) That you further demonstrate your love for the poorest of the poor by reabsorbing those that were sacked by Prince Ikim.

iii) That you kindly consider restructuring the Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency for transparency, accountability and optimal productivity?

Our dear governor, we know you to be a listening leader and we do not doubt that you will hearken to our call.

Signed:

Mr. Hanson Umoette
Acting Chairman

Bassey Eyo Obot
Secretary

Andino Etuk Asuquo
PRO

Etebong Uboh
Welfare Officer