New Equipment For Waste Disposal, Soon – Weli

To redouble its effort at keeping Port Harcourt clean, the State Ministry of Environment, says plans are underway to replace all the dilapidated equipment with new ones at the Environmental Sanitation Authority.

The State Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Nyema Weli gave this indication during his inspection visit to the State Environmental Sanitation Authority last week in Port Harcourt.

Weli noted that clean environment cannot be achieved without infrastructure, adding that adequate plan must be put in place to bring back Port Harcourt to its garden city status.

He however, expressed dismay at the level of motivation and broken down of equipment at the Environmental Sanitation Authority.

He further called for a synergy between multinational companies and relevant institutions to tackle the challenges of waste management in the state.

According to him, the government alone cannot provide all the resources to solve the waste management problem in the state.

Weli urged residents in the state to be on the vanguard against unauthorised dumping of waste.

On the need to prioritise its function, Weli charged the management of Environmental Sanitation Authority to rebuild its workshop which according to him had become necessary for the maintenance of their operational equipment.

The maiden visit also afforded the commissioner the opportunity to create awareness campaign for a group of hoteliers and other stakeholders on the need to support government in its purposeful drive for a clean environment.

Earlier, the Chairman of the state Environmental Sanitation Authority, Mr Isobo Jack outlined some of the nagging problems of the Authority to the commissioner and his entourage including the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Rufus Godwins.

Outstanding he said among the teething problems of the authority, include obsolete and broken equipment, undesignated waste dump site, inadequate revenue to pay adhoc staff in the service of the authority.

Jack further said one of the measures put in place to check indiscriminate dumping of waste was the closure of receptacles not created by the government.