RIWAMA Tasks Communities on Waste Disposal, Warns Against Illegal Dumping.
By Onyekachi Nwosu
The Rivers State Waste Management Agency, RIWAMA, has called on Community Development Committees, CDCs, to take greater responsibility for sanitation in their areas and help stop cart pushers from dumping refuse along highway medians.
The agency says the practice is contributing to the reappearance of waste in some parts of Port Harcourt, despite ongoing efforts to improve sanitation across the city.
The Head of Media and Advocacy of RIWAMA, Harry Sotonye-Henry, made the call while explaining some of the reasons certain areas are sometimes littered with refuse.
Sotonye-Henry said investigations by the agency revealed that some cart pushers pay community youths to gain access to areas where they dump waste outside approved hours.
“One of the cart pushers informed me that they pay money to community youths to allow them dump waste along the median of highways after approved hours,” he said.
He said the development makes it difficult for the agency to sustain clean environments, as waste removed from roads and public spaces often reappears after a short period.
Sotonye-Henry said RIWAMA has been engaging communities to encourage residents and community leaders to support the agency’s sanitation efforts and prevent illegal dumping.
“We have engaged several communities to help stop the cart pushers, and we are now planning to take our advocacy to religious houses,” he said.
According to him, the planned engagement with religious organisations is aimed at reaching a wider section of the public with messages on proper waste disposal and the need for residents to keep their surroundings clean.
He stressed that sanitation is a collective responsibility and urged community leaders to work with RIWAMA by monitoring waste disposal activities within their areas.
The RIWAMA spokesman also disclosed that the agency is constructing additional waste disposal sites in different parts of the city to provide residents with more accessible locations for proper waste disposal.
He identified Alakahia, along the East-West Road, as one of the areas where a new dump site is being constructed.
Sotonye-Henry said the provision of additional disposal facilities is part of efforts to strengthen the state’s waste management system and reduce the temptation for residents and waste handlers to use roads, medians and other unauthorised locations as dumping grounds.
He called on residents to desist from patronising cart pushers who dump refuse at unauthorised locations and urged communities to report such activities to the appropriate authorities.
The agency’s renewed engagement with communities and religious institutions is expected to complement its waste evacuation operations and promote greater public participation in maintaining a cleaner environment across Rivers State.
