Public Hearing Enriches Waste Management Bill

The Rivers State Waste Management Agency bill has received relevant inputs from stakeholders that would enable it scale through the next stage of passage into law.

The bill which came under scrutiny on Friday during a public hearing organised by the House Committee on Environment would significantly improve the content of the bill to ensure an enhanced waste management system in Port Harcourt.

Contributions made and issues raised in the draft law would have greatly diminished the high status of the Rivers State House of Assembly if it were passed in the present form.

The public Hearing which attracted the Registrar of Environmental Health Officers Registration Council Abuja, Mr Augustine Ebisike, and represented by Mr Isah Adamu, pointed out of concern in the bill.

A legal practitioner in the state who picked hole in the bill argued that it should provide procedural approach in prosecution of offenders to avoid creating loopholes for lawyers to strike out cases concerning execution.

Trade Union Congress (TUC) represented by Dr P. Mbata, opined that the activities of scavengers in the state should be considered in the bill to ensure proper regulation.

Dr Mbata, however, expressed happiness that the Environmental Sanitation Authority (ESA) had improved it services in cleanliness of Port Harcourt and its environs, noting that the board of  waste management agency should be composed of professionals for efficiency.

Mr Oprite Briggs from Total Exploration and Production said his company is comfortable with the proposed law but effort should be directed at reducing waste generation and called for proper definition of who issues certificate to operators.

The chairman of the House Committee on Environment, Hon. Victoria Nyeche, said the public hearing was the second in the life of bill as some extreme rules in the provision of the document had been expunged.

Hon Nyeche noted that some of the fines for offenders had been reduced to a manageable level, noting that the essence of fines was to act as deterrent to others and not to make money for government.

The committee chairman who reacted to an issue of non-availability of waste treatment plant, said the state government has one located in Eagle Island axis of Port Harcourt.

She thanked the participants and assured that their contributions would help to enrich the report that would be presented to the House in the process of passing the bill.