RIWAMA Arrests Three Health Workers Over Refuse Disposal

The Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA), says its monitoring team has arrested three health workers over indiscriminate dumping of clinical wastes by the roadside at the Akpajo Roundabout, near Oil Mill Junction in Port Harcourt.
Sole Administrator of the agency, Bro Felix Obuah, who disclosed this in a statement issued by his media aide, Jerry Needam, Monday, and made available to journalists in Port Harcourt, said the health workers were caught dumping some clinical wastes, which include syringes, placenta on the roadside.
Obuah said the culprits, who work for a private clinic in the area, identified as Fruitful Maternity and Clinic, were caught in the act, promptly arrested, and handed over to the police for interrogation and prosecution.
He further said investigations by his team revealed that so many clinics, hospitals and health centers in Port Harcourt are guilty of this offence and warned that the Agency is on their trail with a view to bringing them to book. He condemned the attitude of some traditional delivery homes, who engaged in the unwholesome practice and warned that the Agency would not spare any defaulter.
The RIWAMA Sole Administrator also expressed regrets that aside the indiscriminate dumping of clinical wastes, these health workers also dump refuse outside the Agency’s approved dumping hours of 6 pm to 12 midnight.
Reaffirming his stance that those who flout sanitation rules are enemies of the State, Obuah stressed that “residents and those doing business in Port Harcourt, the State capital, and its environs have no excuse dumping refuse indiscriminately as receptacles have been strategically positioned close to business and residential places.

“We, therefore, appeal to Rivers people and all those living and doing business in the State to join hands with the State Government to keep Port Harcourt, the State capital, and its environs clean at all times,” the statement said.

By: Dennis Naku.