The monthly sanitation exercise for the September 2019 has come and gone with a call on residents of Port Harcourt and its environs to continue to uphold the tenets of clean environment in order to stem the tide of diseases and restore the city back to its Garden City status.
Fielding questions from journalist while monitoring the exercise in Port Harcourt, Bro. Felix Obuah, the Sole Administrator of the Rivers State Waste Management Agency, RIWAMA, thanked residents for coming out en masse to perform their monthly obligation to the state. He expressed confidence that the response of individuals to the imperatives of cleaner environment had increased with time.
Obuah who led the monitoring team from RIWAMA, comprising the police, environmental health officers and other senior officials of the agency were among those who went round strategic locations in the state , including Rumuokwuta, Rumuigbo ,Ada George Road/Location Road, Agip axis, among others to observe compliance with the clean up exercise. The team described the exercise as largely successful.
Speaking on the successes recorded so far in the sanitation exercise, Barrister Onari Awotaria, Special Adviser to Sole Administrator on Monitoring, noted that steady orientation from the agency has continued to help improve compliance and interest in the monthly routine.
Also answering questions from the newsmen, Mr. Cyrus Israel Fubara, Special Adviser to the Sole Administrator on Waste, noted that it is a good practice to keep the environment hygienic as a way of living free of malaria infection and other diseases associated with unkempt vicinity. He praised compliance on the part of residents who trooped out to clean their homes and clear drainages. He particularly noted that the improvement noticed became possible based on RIWAMA ceaseless awareness campaign for clean environment, stressing that people must listen and be committed to doing the right things.
He seized the occasion to further educate the public on the need to bag their waste in a standard way instead of littering the dump sites with indiscriminate dumping of refuse.
Mr. Jerry Needam, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Sole Administration was among the senior officials of the agency who led the exercise.
But the September exercise was not without incidents as many defaulters were arrested across the state for being indifferent to the sanitation requirements.
