The Rivers state Government has declared a state of emergency on environmental sanitation in the state, especially as it concerns street trading in the state.
Speaking to the press after the weekly state executive meeting yesterday at government house Port Harcourt, the Rivers Commissioner of Information and communications Emma Okah made known government’s stance on the matter.
“Government frowns seriously at the deteriorating urban sanitation and environment in the state, particularly in Port Harcourt and Obio Akpor metropolis.
“And so, consequently, government has decided to declare a state of Emergency on the set of people who are in the habit of trading on the roads, the medians and all of that.
“If you go round some roads in Port Harcourt and Obio Akpor, you will discover that quite a lot of them have been taken over by traders.
“Apart from endangering themselves, they are also constituting so much voidable nuisance on the road. And so, government has decided that after the expiration of 7 days, that a lot of all those traders will be flushed out from the road” Okah said.