The Rivers State Waste Management agency is in the hands of god. If not, how can an agency with a monthly budget of N500 million, still makes sure that Port Harcourt as one knows it, becomes a garbage city?
Port Harcourt has a waste problem. It is perhaps one of the major cities in Nigeria where refuse is dumped in the middle of the road for all to see, including visitors trying to make a first impression of the garden city. Yet the agency that oversees waste disposal runs on a N500 million monthly budget? Impressive.
Seeking the services of private waste disposal companies, ala service providers, is not a bad thing. What is worse, however, is when they refuse to clean up their act and keep the city clean. It is one thing to bring people on board and another thing to make sure they do the right thing. How has RIWAMA made sure that service providers assigned to different locations do their job?
A press release by the RIWAMA as reported on theportcitynews.com came with a screaming headline. The RIWAMA boss, Bro. Felix Obuah, during a meeting held at the agency’s head office in Port Harcourt warned the service providers to sit up or get fired. But such warnings had been issued in the past with little to no outcome while piles of waste dot every major road in the city.
Some have called for the sack of the Bro. Felix Obuah-led RIWAMA. In as much as some of the calls for his sack has a political undertone, they nevertheless point to the failure of the agency to truly keep Port Harcourt and the rest of the state clean. But Obuah is ‘unsackable’. That is a fact. He will be there as long as Nyesom Wike remains governor.
As a Rivers indigene who grew up during the era that Port Harcourt was the bride cherished by all, I am saddened by the recent turn of event where the city that made people envy Rivers indigenes have turned to a laughing stock by those who once cherished her.
On Tuesday, theportcitynews.com reported of a pile of waste at Rumuola, close to where Julius Berger was carrying out repair works on the road. The pictures were such gory eyesores that I nearly shed tears. How can RIWAMA be on a six billion Naira annual budget yet the streets are suffering undue frequent waste disposal? The saddest part is that as at yesterday, the refuse was still there, beautifying the city.
It behoves on RIWAMA to regulate and strictly supervise the service providers so as to ensure that they carry out their responsibilities effectively. The current approach is not working. There should be a change of approach in the way the agency discharges its responsibilities. RIWAMA should sit up.
Garrison Roundabout
The Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, should as a matter of urgency, refund Rivers people the billions claimed to have been used to construct the Garrison roundabout. The government is also advised to restore the Garrison junction to what it used to be.
The Rivers state ministry of works and urban planning should knock themselves on the head. That roundabout clearly shows incompetent on their part.
Roundabouts are constructed to reduce traffic, not increase it.
