Residents of the Obatedo community in the Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State have appealed to the state government to come to their aid over the alleged dumping of industrial waste into the Oluwa River.

The community has also petitioned the State Environmental Protection Agency, asking it to call the company, Wee-Wood Industries Limited, to order.

In the petition filed by the community’s lawyer, Busayo Oroyo, and made available to our correspondent on Monday, the community said there was a need for the urgent intervention of the government to stop the matter from degenerating into a crisis between the community and the company.

The petition read, “You will recall that the Ondo State Government through the State Environmental Protection Agency initiated a stakeholders forum at Okitipupa on January 12, 2023, over the working environment of Wee-Wood Industries Limited where our client informed the government of the matter pending in court in Suit HOK/15/2022, over pollution of their environment in which your office promised that further meetings would be called to resolve the matter which meeting was never called till today.

“We have the instruction of our client to forward this petition to your office, to inform your office of further dumping of chemical waste by Wee-Wood Industries Limited on Oluwa River which serves as our client’s source of water which has polluted the said water being used for domestic purposes notwithstanding your admonition to the company at the said stakeholders’ forum at Okitipupa and the pending matter in court.

We have the firm instruction of our client to inform your office that on April 19, 2023, Wee-Wood Industries Limited dumped another industrial waste on our client’s environment and Oluwa River which flowed directly into Obatedo water and the company has done nothing to clean up the water notwithstanding our client’s calls to the company’s community relation manager.”

When contacted, the firm’s Public Relations Officer, Adewale Omolayo, denied the allegation, saying the matter came up almost two years ago and it had been discovered that there was no pollution.

Omolayo said, “The company didn’t dump any waste into the river. The allegation came up some years back and the government intervened.

“They did their investigation and discovered it was not so. In our company, we have a waste management plan and there is nothing like water pollution. More so, the matter is already in court and I will not like to talk much on it.”

Credit: Punch