Monday, 8 June 2015

Nigeria: Contractors Get 24-Hour Ultimatum to Rid Rivers of Refuse



Port Harcourt — Newly appointed Sole Administrator of Rivers State Waste Management Authority, Mr Felix Obuah, on Friday issued a 24-hour ultimatum to refuse contractors to rid Port Harcourt, the state capital, of refuse or risk the sack.
Obuah, who was appointed on Thursday, gave the ultimatum during his maiden meeting with the refuse contractors in his office in Port Harcourt. He said the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, was not happy with the state of the environment of the state capital, following the refusal of the refuse contractors to collect the mountains of refuse littering major roads in the metropolis due to unpaid arrears of salary.
Obuah, who is also the state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said he was not coming into office to witch-hunt anybody but to facilitate the cleanliness of the state capital in line with the directives of Governor Wike.
He implored the service providers to either live up to expectations or be replaced, adding that there were many other refuse contractors who would be willing to take up the job if those handling it were no longer interested.
"I am not here to witch-hunt anybody but those who are willing to work will be retained, while those who are not ready will be shown the way out. I am assuring that those of you who are doing the job diligently will be rewarded", he said.
Obuah said he was aware of the backlog of money owed the contractors by the immediate past administration in the state, but assured that the new government was making efforts to pay the money.
His words: "I am aware of the meeting of Governor Wike with you some few days ago, where he pleaded with you to resume work on the clearing of refuse littering all parts of Port Harcourt.
"The Governor took a personal tour of Port Harcourt to ascertain your level of compliance with the directive. What he saw was not good. Majority of the refuse contractors refused to go back to work.
"It was on that note that the governor appointed me as the Sole Administrator of the Rivers State Waste Management Authority. I was given a 72-hour ultimatum and with the mandate to restore Port Harcourt to its lost glory, with the help of you the refuse contractors. Those who are ready to work are welcome. We must work together to make Port Harcourt clean."
In their response, most of the refuse contractors listed their challenges to include non-functional dump sites, bad access roads to dump sites and non-enforcement of extant laws on indiscriminate dumping of refuse by the people of the state, among others.

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