By Haruna Gimba
The Gombe State Government has disclosed its plans to declare a state of emergency on open defecation through the implementation of the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) project.
The state’s Commissioner of Youth and Sport, Mr Julius Ishaya disclosed this at the end of the state executive council meeting presided by Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya.
He said the council resolved that the state of emergency should be declared to tackle the problem of open defecation which poses a serious health challenge to the people in the state.
He added that the decision was in line with the Federal Government directives urging state Governments to declare a state of emergency on open defecation as well as work on the issue of the WASH project.
“Based on statistics at the national level, only 34 local government areas have successfully dealt with the issue of open defecation, so you can see that it is an urgent and emergency matter.
“Therefore, the council gave the approval that Gombe should join other leagues of states that have declared a state of emergency on the issue,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the commissioner for Commerce, Trade and Industry, Alhaji Nasiru Akiyu revealed that the council had also approved the construction of 27 rural markets across 11 LGAs of the state at the cost of N8.4 billion.
He explained that out of the 27 markets , 10 would be newly constructed while 17 would be upgraded. He said that the project was to modernize the markets and to facilitate the boost of their commercial activities to give the economy of the state a lift up
