Our Environment, Our
Heritage: Environmental Sustainability: A Right For All.” That was the theme of the Port Harcourt Environmental Summit held this year. The summit was organised by the Rivers State House of Assembly Committee on Environment in collaboration with the executive arm of the government.
The conference theme was a summation of the policy thrust of the present administration in the environment sector. It would be recalled that before the inception of the present administration, major streets and roads in Port Harcourt city and its environs were littered with garbage Aside from the issue of garbage across the streets and roads of Port Harcourt and its environs, several creeks crisscrossing the city were blocked with debris.
This situation was largely responsible for the series of flood disasters which affected parts of Port Harcourt and its environs last year. It would be noted that in the year under review, the administration initiated series of programmes to return Port Harcourt to its Garden City status.
The monthly environmental sanitation exercise which was abandoned by previous administrations was reviewed and made more active.
The exercise has not only instilled the culture of cleanliness among residents of the state, but has also restored Port Harcourt to its Garden City status.
Moreover, Governor Nyesom Wike has also ensured that the monthly environmental sanitation exercise is not held only in the state capital, but also across the state.
It would be recalled that through the effort of the present administration, the heaps of refuse which litter virtually all parts of Oyigbo Local Government Area were cleared. The area was declared as the dirtiest local government council in the state.
The present administration in the out-gone year embarked on series of road constructions and rehabilitations across the city of Port Harcourt and the 23 local government areas, thereby improving the aesthetic condition of not only Port Harcourt and its environs but headquarters of the 23 local government areas.
In the year under review, the administration embarked on series of sensitisation campaigns in market places and strategic locations against some bad environmental practices such as, the indiscriminate dumping of refuse into gutters and drainages.
The burning of tyres, the indiscriminate pasting of posters on walls in the city and its environs as well as the illegal oil bunkering which was acknowledged to be a major contributor to the black soot incident witnessed across the state were also tackled. The state government took proactive measures to check the incidence of the black soot.
A taskforce on the black soot was constituted by the government to unravel the causes of the phenomenon and proffer solutions.
The taskforce made up of the Commissioner for Environment, Prof (Mrs) Roseline Konya, immediate past Commissioner for Information/Communications, Dr Austin Tam George and the immediate past Commissioner for Special Duties, Government House now Commissioner for Special Duties, Emeka I. Onowu, immediately swung into action, thereby checking the effects of the soot on the people.
The government also embarked on the dredging of the Ntawogba creek of which work was on-going at the time of filing the report.
The Tide also learnt that in the year under review, the government embarked on tree planting campaigns across the state.
The Ministry of Environment embarked on series of litigations against multinational companies for violating the environmental laws and regulations of the state, while series of conflicts between the companies and their host communities were resolved. Sources within the Ministry of Environment also informed The Tide that the series of flood awareness campaigns carried out by the ministry led to the intervention of the state government in the flood ravaged Eneka community.
Also in the year under review, the government, through the Ministry of Environment issued a stop work order against dredging companies along the Woji bridge while regular dredging inspection exercises have been embarked upon by the ministry within the period under review.
The government, through the Ministries of Special Duties and Environment also donated relief materials to persons affected by the flood incident especially those in the Eneka axis of the city.
Governor Wike has also shown his concern for the implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report on the clean-up of Ogoniland, through series of actions.
The state government was not only involved in the flag off of the clean-up by Vice President Yemi Osibanjo but has at various fora harped on the need for the Federal Government to expedite work on the clean-up exercise.
The Nigerian Environmental Society (NES) also held its annual scientific conference in Port Harcourt in which the state government was fully represented.
Reviewing the out-gone year in a telephone interview with The Tide, the state Commissioner for Environment, Prof. (Mrs) Roseline Konya said that the year had been very challenging as people were not obeying environmental laws of the state.
Konya said that despite this challenge, the government has done well in the area of flood control, the black soot and general environmental cleanliness. She said that for the new year, the administration would improve on sanitation exercise, build more public conveniences across the state as well as complete the scrap- to- wealth project at Kira in Tai Local Government Area.
Similarly, an Environmentalist, Prince William Chinwo, described the out-gone year as one that has seen landmarks in environmental activities.
Prince Chinwo told The Tide in an interview that the ongoing dredging of the Ntawogba creek was a major achievement by the administration in its bid to rid the city of incessant flooding .
He also commended the administration for the series of campaigns against the dumping of refuse into gutters and stressed the need for the situation to be sustained in the new year.
Several environmentalists also commended the government for its effort in tackling environmental challenges in the out-gone year.
This is why the efforts must be sustained to ensure a cleaner environment for Rivers people in the new year.