Monitoring team of the Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA) says it apprehended one Dumo William Jack at about 10.05am on Thursday, discharging a large quantity of wastes along William Jumbo Street behind Government House, Old GRA, after the Service Provider in charge of the area had evacuated the wastes.
Aided by the police from the agency who were quickly alerted to the scene, the monitoring team was able to arrest Dumo William Jack who had defied the sanitation law of dumping wastes only between the hours of 6:00pm to 12:00midnight and at the approved receptacles strategically located in different locations in the State capital and its environs.
The agency regretted that: “In spite of repeated pleas and media campaigns by RIWAMA on the need to join hands to decongest streets and roads in Port Harcourt and other parts of the State of garbage, some residents have continued to turn deaf ears to the calls”.
It added: “Only two days ago, most streets and roads in Port Harcourt were flooded following a heavy downpour that lasted for hours which could be partly attributed to blockage of waterways and channels, resulting in massive diversion of water from its natural routes into offices, houses and even overtaking some roads and market places, etc”.
RIWAMA Sole Administrator, Bro Felix Obuah regretted the situation, calling it deliberate attempt to sabotage government efforts to make the state environmentally friendly and healthier for all residents.
He warned that the agency has done everything humanly possible to make residents see reason and be civil in their conduct, and will no longer hesitate to deal decisively with any person(s) caught in this destructive act of indiscriminate dumping of wastes notwithstanding their social status or circumstance prompting the action.
RIWAMA vowed to prosecute Mr. Dumo William Jack to serve as determent to others who are into such acts.
