EHOAN Bayelsa Members Urge State Gov’t To Lift Inspection Ban

The members of the Environmental Health Officers Association (EHOAN), Bayelsa State Chapter, are urging the state government to lift the ban it imposed on inspection activities approximately two years ago following a professional-role conflict cutting across the relevant Ministries, Departments and MDAs.

Tareware Ebikapade, the EHOAN state chairman, made the appeal when he led other officials of the association on a courtesy visit to the Head of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Yenagoa office, Alagoa Morris, to solicit assistance towards resolving the issue.

Ebikapade recalled that the state Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ehwrudjakpo, had in November 2021, in an announcement signed by his media aide, Doubara Atasi, directed all environmental health workers to stop embarking on fieldwork and inspection activities.

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He said that the restriction had not been lifted since then, and they could not carry out their duties of inspecting markets, restaurants, supermarkets, streets, residential buildings and regulated premises like hotels, among others, to safeguard public health.

Ebikapade reiterated that the environmental health role conflict was among health officers in the Ministry of Health, State Environmental Sanitation Authority, Ministry of Environment and the Yenagoa Local Government Area because they all visit the same places for inspection and thereby cause confusion among residents over undefined functions.

He pointed out that the state government had set up a committee in early 2022 to resolve the problem.

Still, nothing had been heard about the effort, adding that EHOAN members have not been able to perform routine inspection activities in Yenagoa and its environs, incredibly, despite written letters and moves by the association to seek an audience.