The Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) has purchased 12 motorised sweepers for the cleaning of majors roads in the city, an official of the board said.

The board’s Head of Waste Management Department, Mr Ahmed Hamis, told newsmen on Thursday in Abuja that the motorised sweepers would replace the persons used for the job.

He said the use of the motorised sweepers would reduce the rate at which the women, who swept the streets were exposed to the dangers associated with sweeping on the highways.

Hamis said that the persons that would operate the facility would undergo training before deployment to the streets.

According to him, the board has identified major streets and highways where the machines would be used.

He said: “We have 12 motorised sweepers right now; we are simply awaiting for short training to be conducted on the use of the sweepers for us to deploy them to the street.

“We have only identified major streets and highways that we are going to deploy them; but no one single sweeper is going to be laid off; they still will have to do their own work; they have other streets to look at.’’

Hamis said that the introduction of the motorised sweepers would not deprive the women of their jobs, as they would be required to clean other minor streets that would not be covered by the motorised sweepers.

He said that most of the women, who sweep the streets were not staff members of FCTA but employees of the firms contracted to clean the streets.

The head of department, said that part of the board’s agreement with the contractors was to ensure that all the women labourers were insured.

He explained that the board had mandated the contractors to provide ‘Men at work’ signs and reflector jackets that would make the workers visible to motorists.

“We mandate them to have their men at work signs anytime they are working and aprons to make sure they are visible to anybody; we do monitor them to make sure those things are provided for them by the contractors.

“We heard that some of them after providing them with all these personal protective equipment do not use them; we are trying to ensure that they use it for their own safety,” Hamis.

It will be recalled that the board has proposed in 2012 to purchase machines that would sweep some major roads in the FCT such as Shehu Shagari Way, Ademola Adetokumbo Crescent and restricts women doing the sweeping presently to smaller roads.