Commissioner Urges Partnership With LG Chairmen

The Rivers State Commissioner for Environment, Dr Nyema Weli, has called for team work with the Local Government Chairman to tackle sanitation challenges in the state.

Dr Nyema made the call in Port Harcourt on Thursday during a meeting with the local government chairman for Refuse Disposal in the state.

Speaking through the commissioner, the permanent Secretary, Sir George C. Nwaeke told the chairmen that their presence on sanitation days would impact greatly on the enforcement and prosecution of sanitation exercise in their constituencies.

He said, the chairmen accounting officers of their areas could assist the Ministry of Environment by instituting a wakeup call through their ward leaders.

Earlier, the chairman Rivers State Environmental Sanitation Authority, Mr Isobo Jack appealed to the chairmen for collaboration, saying the inability of the state ministry of Environment to partner with local government chairmen over the years as an oversight which resulted in large heaps of refuse.

Mr Jack used the opportunity provided by the ministry to brief the chairmen on what according to him, are points of large waste dumping areas in Port Harcourt, Obio/Akpor, Ikwerre, Oyibo, Eleme and Etche.

He acquainted them of the challenges facing the state environmental sanitation authority, which included lack of equipment, poor performances of refuse contractors, dumping sites, as well as private refuse contractors who buy waste and dump them on government dumps sites.

He called on the chairmen to educate their people on the use of nylon bags which he said, makes evacuation easy, adding that for easy evacuation, the local government have been divided into six zones.

In his speech, the Mayor of Port Harcourt, Mr Akarolo Chimbiko called on the ministry and the authority to draw up collaborating plan to facilitate their needed co-operation.

Also speaking, chairmen, Eleme Local Government, Mr Ojai Ngofa, thanked the ministry and authority, saying that the call for co-operation was timely.

Ngofa said although the local governments observed sanitation in their LGAs, the team up would guarantee effective sanitation operation.

It was however, agreed that local governments should assist the ministry and the authority in the provision of trucks, payloaders, enlightenment as well as enforce environmental laws in their LGAs.