In his effort to actualize his administration’s vision of making Anambra State a Green, Clean and Sustainable State in Nigeria, the State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has pledged a prize reward of 1 million naira to any community that picked the highest quantity of plastic waste products within one month in their areas.

Soludonoted that the competition will also attract income drives for unemployed youths and women, especially in the rural communities.

The governor made the pledge through the State Commissioner for Environment, Engineer Felix Odimegwu, during the official launch of the competition in Awka, on Thursday.

Healso noted that it is part of arrangements to commemorate this year’s World Environment Day.

Engineer Odimegwu, disclosed that the competition that commenced Thursday, June 8 and to end July 7, 2023, is a holistic action to mitigate plastic pollution.

He announced that the plastic recovery challenge would be carried out at community levels within the one hundred and seventy-nine communities in the twenty-one local government areas of the state.

While ensuring even spread of opportunity for participating communities, Engineer Odimegwu noted that one hundred and seventy-nine communities have been grouped into three categories of urban, semi-urban and rural with winner from each category going home with the sum of one million naira while second and third runners goes home with five and two hundred thousand naira respectively.

Explaining further, the Commissioner stressed that each of the one hundred and seventy-nine communities will have one month to pick up plastic waste around their area, while the community that collected the largest number of plastics will go home with the prize money.

The Commissioner, who noted that plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental problems in the world, said that the theme of the 2023 World Environment Day, which focuses on the solution to plastic pollution globally, raises awareness on what everyone must do to mitigate the problem.

He said that to achieve a plastic-free Anambra State, all residents must practice the five-Rs in waste management and principles of circular economy which are: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle, as they target to get rid of ten thousand tons of plastics, stuck in streets, homes, drainages and waterways.

It wasgathered that the official launching of the programme was performed by the State Deputy Governor, Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezim, is in collaboration between the State Government and Anambra State Waste Recyclers Association, (ASWRA). (Nigerian Tribune)

•Anambra State Commissioner for Environment, Engineer Felix Odimegwu with others at the launch of plastic recovery competition