Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has said that the open dumping of wastes has to be replaced with a more innovative and efficient disposal method, so that wastes can be taken off the streets and turned into income-yielding ventures.
Gov. Fubara made the assertion while giving charge to the newly constituted board of directors of the Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA) and its managing director at the Government House, Port Harcourt, on Friday.
The board members include Edward Namiesimagh as the chairman, while Bishop Best, Dr. Ipalibo Sogules, Richard Mazi, and Civian Y. Nwibari are members, with Orukwem Amadi-Oparaeli, serving as the managing director.
The governor said waste disposal and management, have remained a major global concern, adding that over the years, successive administrations in the state had struggled to take wastes off the streets, but ended up taking them to other dump sites where they constitute nuisance and environmental hazards.
He said: “Today, I am here putting a team together to look at these challenges differently. Let it not be the regular pattern, whereby at the end of the month, you come to collect money from me for payments.
“Don’t indulge in appointing your friends as sweepers, evacuators of debris, then you start building hotels, or buying big cars. Let us go beyond that and tap into the potentials of waste management.
“It is an area in this world that there is so much money in. It is an area that creates employment, and generates huge revenue. It is not just depending on what I will give to you. Consider what change you’ll bring to the work, that’s what I want to see in Rivers State.”
Gov. Fubara told the board members that they were carefully selected because of the experiences they had garnered in their previous public assignments, and urged them to replicate their successes on a bigger scale with their new appointment.
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The governor advised them to work assiduously to bring back the beauty of Port Harcourt, with effective waste disposal drive, and ensure the city is clean and green to reflect its old Garden City status.
He urged them to be more responsible as they discharge their assignment, saying that it is more important to see results, than being merely preoccupied with the aura of office.
The governor warned that he will not hesitate to relieve anyone found wanting, and return the agency back to the era of a sole administrator running the affairs of the agency.
Chairman of Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA), Edward Namiesimagh, expressed appreciation to the governor, on behalf of members of the board, for finding them worthy to handle such difficult but surmountable task of keeping Port Harcourt clean.
