Occupants of Shanties at the Creek road Yam Zone in Port Harcourt, have been given seven days within which to vacate the area or face forceful eviction and demolition by the Rivers State Government.

The Deputy Director, Environmental Health Sanitation department of Ministry of Environment, Felix Filima, who gave the seven days ultimatum to the occupants who are mainly Hausas while monitoring the weekly sanitation exercise on Thursday, said the order come as a result of the unsanitary and uninhabitable nature of the area, saying “Government can no longer condone a situation where cubicle, booths and shanties are converted to living rooms in the heart of the city without toilets, bathrooms, septic tanks and other necessities”.

“The unhygienic site poses a serious health hazard to the inhabitants and the environment in general,” he said. Filima also directed the light truck task force yam zone branch chairman, Mr Chika Brown, to ensure that all trucks blocking the government road in the area are cleared within seven days to allow free flow of traffic.

Meanwhile after visiting the Port Harcourt Township Fruit Market at New Layout and the Fruit Garden Market at Kaduna Street, D-Line, Port Harcourt, the Director appealed to the authorities of Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor Local Government Areas to look into the public convenience facilities of the various markets in their respective domains and address the issue accordingly, noting that the Ministry of Environment will not relent in the discharge of their duties to ensure that a cleaner environment is achieved.

Earlier the traders in the respective markets told The Tide that the major challenges posing serious concern to them are the non evacuation of refuse by the contractors, no public conveniences, lack of water supply, de-silting and construction of more drainages and total renovation of the market. With this according to them, the revenue generated would be justified.