One way to improve refuse disposal in Rivers State is to commercialise it and make it profit-oriented, says former Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Mr. Emmanuel Mark.
In a chat with The Tide on how to reduce the challenge of waste management in the state, the estate surveyor opined that the current scenario can only create more difficulties because the people view it as public service.
“For refuse disposal all over the world people have to pay for such services” Mark stated, “In Lagos and Abuja are they not paying for refuse. I believe that people should do what they are supposed to do to make the city clean”.
Picking holes in the current method of waste disposal, Mark reasoned that there should be a deliberate effort by the authorities to map the city into phases such that will make room for effective refuse management.
By levying the public on refuse disposal, Mark is of the view that it will reduce indiscriminate dumping, of wastes, and reduce difficulties faced by refuse contractors to pick up wastes.
He argued that wastes could be turned into an employment and economic resource once government begin to tax public on their wastes.
By taking the public on wastes, Mark said the waste authorities could make additional revenue, and at the same time improve on service delivery by acquiring modern equipment and engaging expert manpower.
Other areas he suggested that could be commercialised include public water system and roads.
He lamented that in the last 19 years water provision in Port Harcourt metropolis has gone underground, but that if government receives public water services people would be ready to pay, as it’s safe, healthy and effective.