The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) recently conducted a sanitation exercise in Abaji and Kwali Area Councils, and advised the residents to sustain the tempo by promoting cleanliness in their areas.

The exercise, which was tagged 'clean and green, greater Abuja' was part of the administration's commitments in making Abuja clean and habitable for residents.

Speaking to reporters during the exercise, the Head of Waste and Sanitary Unit, Mr. Ahmed Abubakar said the Minister of State for FCT Mrs. Olajumoke Akinjide, through the Satellite Towns Development Agency (STDA) inaugurated a sanitation committee that is working to ensure a clean environment in all the satellite towns within the six Area Councils of FCT.

Also speaking, the Information Officer for Abaji Area Council, Mr. Musa Haruna, said the project was successful as the residents were fully sensitised and involved compare to the previous ones.

Haruna further stated that the exercise was a mop-up program and a committee has been formed in the community to ensure that people do not go back to dumping refuse in the evacuated areas.

"Angwan Ashara, Ajana road and Abaji market where refuse were formally dumped were totally evacuated. As the residents; we express our gratitude to the FCTA for its initiative because of these areas that have been evacuated three times before but this one was the best. We are however soliciting the assistance of the FCTA to provide other basic amenities", he said.

In Kwali Area Council, the exercise was also successfully staged in Angwan Ashari, Yangoji, Lambata among others.

Speaking, the Assistance Director on Environmental Health, Mr. Yusuf Yakubu, who stood for the Head of Department on Environment, Alhaji Abdullahi Tarkwa, said "we are impressed with what has happened today and we want to encourage that this partnership continues".

Tarkwa said: "The department is actually new but we are doing our best to ensure that this activity is ongoing. Our only challenge is working implements but we are working towards that".

According to him, waste management is a difficult task but series of committees that embark on back to back sensitisation was also already on ground to ensure continuity, adding that market women are fully involved in the exercise through their representatives at the committees.

He said that Kwali, if not the first on the list, was second in terms of cleanliness, saying it has twelve dumping sites and that penalty would be meted out to those who violate rules or dump refuse indiscriminately, depending on the severity of the offence.