Agency sponsors production of hand-washing machines
The Akwa Ibom State Roads And Other Infrastructure Maintenance Agency (AKROIMA) has sponsored the production of 10 locally designed hands-free washing machines.
The Executive Chairman of AKROIMA, Prince Godwin Ntuk Udeh, said the manufacture of the locally designed machines was borne out of the desire to minimise the spread of COVID-19.
Speaking in Uyo, Udeh said he observed that many of the hand-washing equipment were not handsfree and so defeated the purpose of hand washing, as users were forced to touch the surface of the equipment again after washing their hands.
He explained that the locally designed machine eliminated that, as it comes with a leg controlled mechanism used to regulate the flow of water.
He said the machine also has a mechanism for draining out the dirty water without anyone touching it, adding that all the materials used for the production were sourced locally.
“The emphasis of this pandemic is that we should look inward. Up till now, the medical scientists have not come up with a vaccine or methodology of thrashing off the pandemic.
“It means that our indigenous persons should look around, look inwards and come up with medicine, equipment, advocacy or whatever that is locally produced that can help to combat the pandemic.
“That is what informed the board of this agency. In the course of our deliberation, we had a young technician who gave us the idea of what he could come up with, looking at what is happening around us, that one of the special need is to wash our hands.
“After corrections, he finally came up with what we can describe as an indigenous innovation,’’ he said.
He said the device was designed to be operated manually so as to avoid issues with electricity supply.
The inventor of the machines, Mr. Aniekan Onomkpöinam, said the innovation was borne out of his desire to check the exposure of people to the risk of contracting the disease while washing their hands especially outside their homes.
He said, “Every time I went to people’s homes or offices to see people open the tap to wash their hands with the usual pails, I thought about the possibility of still contracting the deadly COVID-19 pandemic because different people touch the tap at different times.
“So I came up with the idea of inventing the hands-free hand-washing machine”.