Environmentalist Seeks Law On Waste Separation

Against the backdrop of the much talked about waste separation in order to ensure proper disposal in the Port Harcourt metropolis and its environs, an environmentalist and industrialist, Dr  Osai Mustapher Rueben has said that residents of Port Harcourt are yet to be convinced that anything good could come out of the process of separating their waste. Dr. Rueben, who spoke to our correspondent recently in an exclusive interview in Port Harcourt said everybody knows what should be done.

He said one way of making of the campaign work was through the making of a law by the government so that the people would comply.

He said the people can be convinced when they see that the waste they were separating was of any value to them.

According to him, one other way was through the hard lesson that would be learnt on the realisation that at a point in time, materials plastic for water among others were scarce.

It is only then that people would  know that resources are limited which is usually the hardest way and that is the best way known to black man to learn”, he said.

Dr Rueben, who is the Managing Director of the Initiates Limited said one of the easiest way to make people feel the economic impact by touching on the pockets of the people

“Because the disposal of waste is not touching on any person’s pocket, no body wants to make any change”, he said.

Explaining further, Dr Rueben, said if the waste people were sending out for government to carry was seen to increase the money government makes then people would begin to look at alternative ways in reducing the money that government was taking from their pockets. The government should appeal to the conscience of the people as well as begin to pinch the pockets of Port Harcourt residents.

On the impact so far made by government agencies like the Rivers State Environmental Sanitation Authority (RSESA) and the Ministry of Environment among others, Dr Rueben said their impact should be seen in the context of political coordination and will.

He said the agencies could be there but if the government’s will was not there,  such agencies could do nothing effective.

He said the agencies would just be sources of waste of public funds if professionals were left out in the running of such agencies.

They have done a little because these agencies are  agencies that are not run by professionals cannot give a professional result, he said.