Edith CHUKU
In a bid to ensure the restoration of Port Harcourt to its garden city status, residents of Elekahia Housing Estate and Rumuodara Junction axis, in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, have called on the sole administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ekwe Ibas (rtd) to interface with contractors to ensure prompt evacuation of waste.
They made this call on Thursday when TNN correspondent visited the Rumuodara junction where refuse was heaped on the median with flies hovering around it.
Also at Eneka, it was discovered that waste dumped at the first market junction, infront of the Civic Centre has taken over half of the road.
At Elekahia Housing Estate, the situation was not any better as the environment stinks of refuse.
The residents who spoke with our correspondent condemned the delay in evacuating the waste, adding that it was defacing the environment and causing great harm to the health of the people living within the areas.
Speaking in an interview, Dr. Sophia Daniel, a resident of Elekahia Housing Estate explained that, “the place designated for residents to dump their waste, we scarely see the constructors responsible for evacuating the waste, we hardly see them.
“There are lots of mosquitoes, flies, it’s been crazy. We want the sole administrator to see how he can empower the contractors or call them to order to ensure that we have a safe and clean environment.
“Apart from rats and mosquitoes, the stench is horrible, especially in the median, you are driving you will see rats, it’s a horrible sight and it’s really not good for us, it’s really not good for residents.”
Daniel urged the SOLAD to, “have a meeting with contractors and bring them up to speed on how soon or how fast they can clean up so that we can have some level of decent environment to live in. It’s an estate and Elekahia is known for good security, it’s a good environment but we just need some level of proper hygiene.”
She added that there is a place for waste disposal but their challenge is the evacuation of the refuse. “There is a place for waste disposal but the evacuation is the problem.
“I fear that residents will suffer more of malaria because of the mosquitoes. I wouldn’t want to go too deep to talk about cholera but there are lots of rats, it’s a horrible sight. Once you step out of your house, the stench is horrible.”
