The Rivers State Minis
try of Environment is to embark on more advocacy and sensitisation programmes on the importance of clean environment in the state.
The State Commissioner for Environment, Prof. (Mrs) Roseline Konya said this in an interview with newsmen during the last monthly environmental sanitation exercise in Port Harcourt. Prof. Konya said that the campaign would provide opportunity for the people to appreciate the importance of a clean environment as well as seek their support for the operations Kill All Rats campaign.
While commending the people of Port Harcourt and its environs for their commitments and zeal towards cleaning their environment as demonstrated by the large turnout during the exercise, she however said that government still has a lot to do as far as sanitation exercise is concerned.
She also stressed the need for more commitment in the next exercise as everyone in the state needs a clean environment to live.
“People came out in large numbers. I saw committed people but there is a lot of work to be done” she said.
The commissioner expressed the hope that caretaker committee chairmen of the 23 local government councils will replicate what the government is doing at the state level in their respective council areas.
Meanwhile, Professor Konya has hinted of plans by the Ministry to constitute a taskforce in the state. She said that, the taskforce would be given terms of references during inauguration, but added that practices such as the dumping of refuse in the middle of the road, dumping of refuse in the rivers and creeks across the city and the proliferation of illegal structures across the city will be checked.
The commissioner also directed traders at the Trans/Amadi slaughter to remove all shanties under the Woji Bridge and condemned the fire incident which affected parts of the bridge.
Also speaking, the state Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) Mr. Oliver Wollugbom also described the turnout as very impressive, but also said that more work must be done by the government to encourage more participations in future sanitation exercises.
He blamed the problem of refuse disposal in the city on the abandonment of responsibility by the people stressing that people must support the government to ensure proper refuse disposal in the state.
At the Trans-Amadi Abattoir, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) in charge of the Abattoir, Alhaji Nura A. Musa said that the management of the abattoir carried regular fumigation to keep away rats and other vectors.

A refuse dump at the Ojoto/Azikiwe Road axis of Diobu in Port Harcourt, before the monthly environmental sanitation excercise on Saturday. The dump has bveen successfully evacuated. Photo: Chris Monyanaga