Awkuzu Stree in the Mile One axis of Diobu, Port Harcourt witnessed a busy moment last Saturday as the residents embarked on the desilting of drainages in the area.
When The Tide correspondent who visited the area on Saturday said the people were seen in their large numbers clearing sand and refuse dumped in the drainages. Some residents had their portions cleaned Friday night.
Speaking to this journalist, the chairman, Environmental Sanitation committee on the Cleaning of Drainages at the street, Pastor Clement Emenike explained that the residents were worried over the volume of water and sand in the drainages which caused flooding during rains, hence they embarked on the project.
According to Emenike, a landlord in the street, “our stress gets flooded whenever it rains and water gets into people’s rooms and shops because the gutters are over-filled with sand and refuse, so we decided to set up a committee that tasked the residents huge amount of money for the desilting and evacuation of the sand and refuse”.
He commended the landlords, caretakers and tenants of the street for their cooperation and understanding, describing the exercise as a huge success as they came out enmasse while urging the government to ensure the regular cleaning of drainages in the Port Harcourt metropolis.
Also speaking to The Tide, a caretaker of one of the buildings, Comrade Henry Braide expressed to gratitude to the entire people participated in the exercise which described as excellent.
“The exercise is excellent and I am very impressed by the large turnout of the residents. We know that government alone cannot do everything for the people hence we decided to embark on the project which cost us huge money and energy. We are also aware that it is a government project”, he emphasized and called on the government to encourage the people to enable them continue to support, especially in environmental sanitation to maintain the Garden City status of Port Harcourt.
Another caretaker, Mr. Rakirima Horsfall told The Tide that when members of the Drainage Cleaning Committee approached officials of the Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA) on the exercise, they were allegedly asked to pay N350,000, pointing out that “we had to resort to hiring some Hausa boys who assisted us since we could not afford to pay the amount demanded by RIWAMA officials.
In his reaction, another caretaker, Mr Michael Friday hailed the courage and determination of the Awkuzu Street (middle) residents and urged the government recognize their effort as it is the duty of the RIWAMA to evacuate refuse and clean the drainages, and ensure that the state capital is clean.
Tonye Fubara, a caretaker also spoke to this newsmen, recalling that residents of the street had been carrying out the exercise since 2004, adding that it has been a big task each time they wanted to do it and called for government’s support as “we always find ourselves in a pathetic situation whenever it rains”.
On his part, Mr Chike Obi, who led a RIWAMA supervisory team on flood control to the area commended the Awkuzu Street residents for their effort and promised that he would send the report to the appropriate quarters for reward.

Shedie Okpara