Garbage takes over Port Harcourt

A heap of refuse taking over a major road in Port Harcourt...on Sunday

FOR the past one week, roads and streets in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, have been taken over by garbage. The development followed the strike action embarked upon by waste disposal contractors engaged by the administration of ex-governor Rotimi Amaechi.

The waste disposal contractors had said their action was based on the failure that government hasn't  paid them for four months. The contractor had vowed not to return to work until their dues were paid.

The situation has turned Port Harcourt, which prides itself as the Garden City, into a garbage city as refuse litter the streets and major roads in the city.

While residents grapple with the stench from refuse heaps, the state Waste Management Board seems helpless as the contractors maintained their ‘Operation no pay, no work’ stance.

On Sunday, some Port Harcourt residents, who attended church services around Mile One, Ikoku, Ada George and the Agip axis of the state capital were seen covering their noses against foul odours.

Along Ikoku Road, where auto spare parts are sold, it was learnt that the refuse dumped for the past one week had not been evacuated. The heaps blocked more than half of the road and made easy traffic flow difficult.

A trader in Ikoku, who identified himself as Onyema, said some of them, who have the dumps close to their shops, might not be able to open for business on Monday.

“With what we have seen within the past five to six days, it shows that this people carrying refuse have been doing a great job. Imagine, just six days without working, the entire Port Harcourt has been taken over by refuse.

“Even on the middle of the road, you can see refuse. We are begging the state government to do something quickly before it becomes a health hazard. We are tired of covering our noses with handkerchiefs whenever we are passing,” Onyema said.

Southern City News gathered that while the immediate past administration owed them February, March, April and May salaries, they were not sure if the new government would want to inherit the immediate past government’s debt.

A source close to the state Waste Management Agency said the garbage was littered everywhere because the sole administrator (Ade Adeogun) had left and handed over to the director of administration.

The source added that nobody could change the contractors’ mind, whose dues had not been paid for months.

“We have people that are refuse contractors. They are called service providers and they are being owed by Rivers State Government for up to three months. So, there was an attempt by the Amaechi administration to pay them two months salaries. Unfortunately, there was no money to pay them. Some of them were also afraid that Wike might come in as the governor and decide not to pay them. So, some of them are afraid to continue working. What if they are not paid for the work they have already done?

“Probably they need to meet with the Government of Rivers State. Some of the contractors are still working, but what they can achieve is negligible. The (former) Sole Administrator of the State Waste Management Agency, Mr. Ade Adeogun, is no longer the sole administrator.

“That is why the new governor should call the director of administration or urgently meet with all the service providers to chart a way forward because some of the service providers are Amaechi’s supporters while others are Wike’s supporters. So, he needs to work with all of them no matter the situation.”

For now, scavengers are on the refuse dumps located on some of the roads in Port Harcourt, even as the state Governor, Nyesom Wike, has directed the striking contractors go back to work, promising to meet with them on Wednesday.