Sole Administrator of Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA), Bro. Felix Obuah has announced that this month’s State-wide Sanitation exercise will hold on Saturday, October 31, 2020, across the 23 Local Government Areas of the State from 7 am – 10 am.
In a statement, the RIWAMA Sole Administrator, Bro Obuah said there will be strict restriction of human and vehicular movements during the period of the exercise.
The RIWAMA Sole Administrator enjoined all Council Chairmen in the 23 Local Government Councils of the State, all Councillors, Paramount Rulers, Community Development Committees, CDCs, Youth Councils and other groups to ensure full participation of the people in their respective areas.
Obuah also appealed to security agencies, particularly Area Commanders and Divisional Police Officers (DPOs), to strictly enforce the restriction of human and vehicular movement order during the period of the exercise across the State.
The Sole Administrator also enjoined all Rivers people and those living and doing business in the State to comply accordingly by using the period to clean their environment, surroundings and empty their gutters and other water channels for free flow of water, as defaulters will be arrested and prosecuted.
He warned against converting the period of the sanitation exercise to street trading, physical training, footballing and other social activities, stressing that defaulters will be arrested and prosecuted before the Sanitation Court that would be sitting at the RIWAMA premises on Saturday, October 31.
Obuah urged owners of trucks (individuals and corporate organizations) to make available their trucks for the evacuation of wastes that would be generated during the period of the sanitation exercise.
While urging the good people of the State to support Governor Nyesom Wike’s vision of a clean and safe environment, Bro. Obuah reiterated the firm commitment of the Agency in ensuring that Port Harcourt regains its Garden City status as well as remain a clean and healthy State for the residents.
Meanwhile, Bro. Felix Obuah has warned against converting the sanitation hours of 7am to 10am into street trading, footballing and other social activities.
Obuah in a statement said such behavior is not only condemnable but grossly unpatriotic, urging those who engage in the act to desist henceforth as defaulters will be arrested and prosecuted.
He noted that the statewide sanitation exercise is a civic duty which entails the participation of all well-meaning people of the State for the overall health and cleanliness of the environment.
The Sole Administrator warned that Sanitation Marshalls in conjunction with law enforcement agencies have been directed to monitor the roads and streets with a view to arresting and prosecuting those who engage in this unwholesome act, adding that to be forewarned is to be forearmed.
He therefore charged parents and guardians to call their children to order as those who flout the sanitation rules would be arrested and brought before the Sanitation Court for immediate prosecution.
The RIWAMA Sole Administrator stated that the full participation of all residents including youths in the State is solicited so as to engender a clean and healthy environment, stressing that using sanitation hours for street trading and footballing is tantamount to sabotaging the efforts of the Rivers State government.
