PH Residents Raise Alarm Over Scrap Dealers’ Activities

They are every where in the city, plying their trade in a measure that is almost indispensable, yet a nuisance. The residents depend on them for the disposal of their wastes but they also loathe the excesses of their prowling activities which the residents consider to be unnerving.
They are scavengers, scrap merchants and sanitation vendors, spectacular in the nooks and crannies of Port Harcourt and its environs where they scoop on refuse dumps, digging out their gold mine in a an insipid taste that defies the rules of decency.
They hang out in clusters, lining out their trucks as cherished possessions and tools of economic activities. They move around the neighborhood with their trucks filling them with both domestic and industrial wastes that are later filtered for their economic benefits.  the scrap collectors gather up their products from various parts of the city and store them at a depot where the scrap products are scaled and loaded in trailers for delivery at designated places. The scrap laden trailers are mostly escorted by heavily armed security   details. The scrap dealers smile to bank on the delivery of a week-long process of accumulation and assemblage of their products. The men espouse a strange sense of bond and fellowship. Their dump site also serves as their collective abode. Their manager, a middle aged man plays the role of a middle man between the scrap merchants and their patrons. After a successful delivery he withdraws money from the bank and pays them their individual charges.
The scrap dealers also have a notorious detail linked with their alleged criminal activities of carting away valuables of residents such as generator sets, stoves, electric irons, and other metallic products they come across. The residents abhor the excesses of their prowling activities but live by share adjustment to the situation as they depend on the scavengers for waste disposal. Some residents of Port Harcourt, who narrated their experiences to the Port Harcourt Metro, explained how they lost their belongings to the scavengers. Mrs Candy Ibifa, said, her electric stove and metal pots have been taken away on more than two occasions by the scavengers. “ One bad thing about these people that move around with trucks is that they take away peoples belongings without permission. They have collected my electric stove and pots twice “.Another resident, Mr Gibson Kooh, said the prowling truck minders took away his generator set while roving around in search of scraps. “Most of these truck pushers are thieves, they took away my generator before I returned home from my shop. My neighbour also lost his generator to them, some times ago, this is very bad The residents called for more vigilance and security attention within the neighbourhood to check the activities of the truck pushers.

By: Taneh Beemene