KNSG TO FACILITATE LOANS FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT FIRMS - - TopicsExpress

KNSG TO FACILITATE LOANS FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT FIRMS - Kwankwaso Kano state government will facilitate soft loans from the Bank of Industry, to private solid waste managers in the state, to fast track their involvement in refuse collection and disposal in the state, the state governor, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso has revealed. Disclosing this during an interactive session with private waste managers at the Government House Kano, Governor Kwankwaso, explained that government will work out modalities to enable them access loans from the N2 billion earmarked for small scale businesses by the bank, in Kano. Government, according to him, will equally enact a law to back up services of the private investors in waste management, to demonstrate political will in the on-going effort to facilitate involvement of the private sector in managing the environment for the good of all. “The whole idea is to involve the private waste managers in refuse collection in Kano state as this will create jobs for our people, create wealth and make Kano, especially the city of Kano, clean”, Governor Kwankwaso explained. He maintained that the challenge of managing public refuse should be a collective responsibility and not that of government alone, stressing that in most developed countries, waste management is a lucrative endeavour that has attracted huge investment from the private sector. Governor Kwankwaso tasked private investor companies to engage in massive awareness campaigns to educate people about the public-private waste management arrangement, pointing out that the success of the deal depended a lot on their commitment. He then appealed to people in Kano state to support the initiative, explaining that it one of the numerous government policies and programmes aimed at changing the face of the state. When the agreement is sealed, refuse from certain places such as hotels and markets as well as identified residential areas will be solely managed by private companies while government will concentrate in low income areas. In his remarks, one of the private investors in refuse disposal, Alhaji Bala Muhammad Tukur, promised that they would employ Kano citizens to reduce that challenge of unemployment in the state and to make their work easier. Halilu Ibrahim Dantiye, fnge, mni Director of Press and Public Relations to the Executive Governor of Kano state 29/9/2013