The Ekiti state government has clarified the misconceptions regarding the production of local Dino waste bins, emphasizing that the manufacturing is taking place in Ado by the state government, not in Lagos.
The commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Chief Tosin Aluko-Ajisafe, clarified during an inspection visit to the waste bins fabrication centre in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.
She said the fabrication of the Dino waste bins was being done by experts from Lagos who were commissioned to train the local welders in Ekiti on how to fabricate the waste containers.
“Some welders in Ekiti are here with the engineers from Lagos who are putting them through on how to fabricate the Dino bins. There is nothing bad in borrowing ideas from other states to enhance development.
“As human beings, we learn every day from different sources. With the initiative, subsequent production would be solely done by welders from Ekiti because those who are presently understudying the production, who have known the method and the materials being used would be able to teach their colleagues how to fabricate the bins later” the commissioner posited.
Chief Aluko-Ajisafe said Lagos state equally learnt the fabrication method from outside the country’ adding that Ekiti only entered into a diplomatic relation with its Lagos counterpart to draw inspiration from their initiative on the local production of the waste bins.
She said that Governor Biodun Oyebanji is very passionate about local content initiatives to boost the state economy.
According to her, 20 Dino bins are currently under construction with the projection to finish the production by the end of the month.
The Commissioner explained that ten of the bins would first be deployed to strategic points within the state capital, saying that Sinotrucks are still being expected to be delivered to facilitate the quick and easy evacuation of the communal bins.
Chief Aluko-Ajisafe urged Ekiti residents to continue to give the needed support to the state government so that the present administration will deliver on its mandate of shared prosperity.
The Director General, of Ekiti State Waste Management Authority, Mr Olasunkanmi Onipede said the local production of the Dino bins is a direct investment by the Ekiti state government in collaboration with its Lagos State counterpart.
Mr Onipede also noted that the initiative serves as a way of transferring knowledge from Lagos to Ekiti people as there are qualified local welders and students from tertiary institutions from the state currently learning the skills.
“The local content acts is very much embedded in what we are doing and the purpose of this is to ensure it’s implementation. when we get this out of the way, the next set of production will be done by our people here.
Speaking about the benefit of the initiative, Mr Onipede explained that the Dino waste bins, when finished, will in no small measure enhance the clean environment by reducing the heaps of waste usually seen in road medians.
The Director General, the Bureau of Local Content, Hon. Olalekan Ijidale, also pointed out that the production of the Dino bins in the state capital is in line with the local content policy of Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s administration.
He said the policy gives room to collaborate and synergise with other development partners for the benefit of the socio-economic progress of the state.
Hon. Ijidale noted that the local artisans understudying the Dino fabrication were doing well so far, expressing the belief that the skills learnt would be effectively shared with their colleagues in the state.
One of the Ekiti state welders, understudying the waste bins designing, Mr Adekunle Jayeola from Ado Ekiti, said he had been learning the skills for almost two weeks and had gained a lot of experience on the project.
Engineer Bakare Olamilekan Afeez who led the team of experts from the Lagos state Waste Management Authority to Ekiti, remarked that they were in Ekiti to replicate their knowledge on Dino waste bins fabrication for mutual benefits between the two states.
“This work is not just about welding, a lot of technicalities are involved which comes from the design stage. Artisans it technicians don’t design. It is the engineer who designs and in the fabrication process, you need welders, fabricators and craft men which is what we are doing here.
Engineer Afeez who designed the Dino waste bins said the relationship between his team and that of Ekiti workers has been cordial and satisfactory, saying that they follow instructions accordingly and have been doing well so far.