NOA Scores PH High On Cleanliness

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has rated Port Harcourt the Rivers State capital as one of the emerging cleanest cities in Nigeria.

The State Director of the agency, Mr. Oliver Wolugbom who said this in an interview with newsmen shortly after this month’s environmental sanitation exercise attributed the feat to the effort of the state government agency towards returning the city to its garden city status.

Mr. Wolugbom said that NOA was impressed with the constant sensitisation effort of the government, noting that by this development, residents of the city and environs were increasingly conscious of the need to keep their environment clean.

The State Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Nyema Weli who spoke to newsmen after the exercise said that the sensitisation programme would continue.

Dr. Weli however said the issue of cleaning the city must not be left for government alone as everyone must be involved.

“There has to be a way of making people take responsibility for cleaning their environment.

“It is our individual responsibility to keep our environment clean. Everyone has a role to play by ensuring that the environment is kept clean”, the Commissioner said.

Dr. Weli said that government would continue to talk to the citizenry to let them know that cleaning the environment was not only for sanitation days alone, reiterating that people must clean their environment everyday.

Meanwhile, the Rivers State Ministry of Environment has warned against the continuous defacing of markets in the city with all kinds of refuse.

Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Nyema Weli who handed down the warning at the weekend while monitoring the sanitation exercise at Eligbolo and Rumuokoro at slaughter markets, said that the situation was capable of causing epidemic in the communities.

Speaking, the women leader of the Rumuokoro market, Mrs Ngozi Okpara urged the government to save them from the activities of Obio/Akpor taskforce who came everyday to extort money from them in the name of sanitation levy.

The head of the slaughter market Rumuokoro, Alhaji Alaini Salamudeen blamed the continuous defacing of the market on the activities of some traders who preferred to do their business outside their respective stalls.