The Sole Administrator, Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA), Bro. Felix Obuah, has dissociated himself and the agency from some revenue agents who claim to have been authorised by the authority.
In a statement in Port Harcourt, yesterday, the agency said its attention again has been drawn to the renewed criminal activities of some hoodlums and fraudsters, masquerading themselves as revenue agents of RIWAMA, going about the streets extorting and defrauding companies, shop-owners and unsuspecting public of unauthorized levies in the name of the agency.
Expressing anger over the development, Obuah said the agency has not directed and does not intend to direct any person or group of persons on such dubious and criminal acts now or in the near future.
He warned for the umpteenth time that everything that has to do with revenue collection in the state was under the control and supervision of the Rivers State Board of Internal Revenue.
The RIWAMA boss reiterated that any person harassing shop owners and other business operators for levies or monies of any kind and, or seizing their goods must be criminals and should be apprehended and taken to the police for prosecution.
He regretted that despite persistent cautions and warnings from the agency to the general public about the environmental laws of the state and the activities of dupes though not confined to Rivers State, some people have continued to fall prey to the treachery and cheap tricks of these fraudsters.
The RIWAMA boss also disclosed that the fraudsters drive around the city, extorting compulsory sanitation levies from unsuspecting and defenseless members of the public in the name and with fake Identity Card of Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA), raking in Millions of naira from them in the process.
“The agency has been receiving reports for some time now, and has been desperately trying to track down these criminals through the security agencies but are still at large”, Obuah said, calling on the general public to be vigilant and report the suspects if found to the nearest Police Station or to RIWAMA office at Mile 4, Ikwerre Road in Port Harcourt.
Obuah lamented that the agency has at several fora clearly stated that RIWAMA was not a levy-collection agency and does not collect fees for waste management, and warned members of the public to beware of fraudsters, who go around extorting money from business operators and the general public in the name of RIWAMA.
Meanwhile, the Sole Administrator of the Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA), Bro. Felix Obuah has charged service providers with the agency to take their work seriously or have their contracts terminated.
Speaking while addressing service providers at the Conference Hall of the agency in Port Harcourt, last Monday, Obuah declared that the task to keep Port Harcourt, the state capital and its environs clean at all times is a mission that must be accomplished and frowned particularly at the nonchalance of some contractors in the discharge of their duties.
He charged the contractors at the meeting which was also attended by directors of the agency, to ensure that their zones are kept clean at all times, also warning them against abandonment of compactors at dumpsites and directed the immediate removal of all such compactors within 24 hours.
While acknowledging that times are hard, the RIWAMA boss urged service providers to remain resolute, adding that the agency was not unmindful of the challenges often encountered in their effort to keep the state clean and healthy.
Obuah, however, gave kudos to those contractors who against all odds, have performed creditably well, urging them to keep up the tempo, assuring that all their entitlements would be cleared in no distant time.