The Abia State government has announced that it will be investigating the contamination of the community stream in Aro Ajatakiri in Ajata-na-Igu Autonomous Community in Ikwuano Local Government Area of the state, News About Nigeria reports.
The State Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Philemon Asonye Ogbonna, made this known in a statement on Sunday, stating that the government is concerned about the well-being of the residents and will take swift action to resolve the problem.
He stated that the notice of the issue of contamination of the community stream had gotten to the state government through the Ministry of Environment and commended the Ministry for its concern about the state of the stream, which has become unfit for human consumption and use.
The Commissioner expressed worry that the community stream has become coloured and that fish in the stream and ponds were found dead in many areas.
He assured the people that the government would respond immediately so that they would have access to clean and healthy water.
He, therefore, urged the general public and members of the community to desist from making further use of the community stream, pending the investigation and feasibility study of the stream and its area which is currently being carried out by the state Ministry of Environment.
“Investigation is still on. We want to establish it. We don’t want to base it on suspicion. The team investigating it is already doing that. We want to be very meticulous in what we are doing to enable us to pin down the source of contamination based on proper investigation,” he said.
