The federal government has slammed the Senate for proposing to establish an agency called the Clean Nigeria Agency.

Specifically, the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Finance have faulted a bill seeking to establish Clean Nigeria Agency to eradicate open defecation.

They were part of stakeholders who made presentations at a public hearing by the Senate on a bill for an Act to establish the Nigerian Clean Agency to prohibit open urination, defecation to keep Nigerian clean and disease-free on Monday in Abuja.

The bill was sponsored by Clifford Ordia (PDP- Edo).

Mr Ordia, in his presentation, said the bill sought to make rules, issue guidelines and regulations for the construction and operations of public toilets.

He said the agency, when established, would certify public toilet facilities to be fit for use by members of the public and have powers to shut down public places not meeting the required standards prescribed by the agency.

However, speaking against the proposed agency, the director of legal services in the Ministry of Environment, Helen Obayagbon, argued that the bill was trying to convert a fragment of the waste management component of sanitation into an agency, adding there are 15 components of sanitation.

This, she noted, would result in wasting public resources, stressing that the ministry has the mandate to coordinate environmental sanitation activities in all sectors of Nigeria.

She noted that the ministry and its agencies were neither informed nor consulted on the proposed agency.

The president of the Environmental Health Officers Association of Nigeria (EHOAN), Jamilu Shuaibu, explained that the bill was inconsistent with the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 constitution as amended.

He said the Constitution vested the role of maintenance and regulations of public convenience on local government councils. Mr Shuaibu noted that the 774 local councils have been performing the function via the Environmental Health Services Department.

He said the agency would be an additional liability on the government if established.

In his opening remark, the committee chairman, Bello Mandiya, called for urgent action to eradicate open urination and defecation in the country.

(NAN)