Hot SourceRivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has promised to permanently relocate the dumpsite along the Port Harcourt Airport–Obiri-Ikwerre Road.
Residents and road users have had to endure the offensive smell from the dumpsite for years.
Speaking on Tuesday during an inspection of a proposed replacement site, an empty sand pit near Bambo Estate, off Eneka Road in Igwuruta, Ikwerre Local Government Area, Fubara described the current dumpsite as a public health threat and “a damaging first impression for visitors” arriving in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
The governor revealed that the location is being assessed “as a potential permanent dumpsite for the state.”
He was accompanied to the proposed new dumpsite by the Chairman of the Rivers State Waste Management Agency, RIWAMA, Samuel Nwanosike, and its Managing Director, Ibimina Wokoma.
A statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Nelson Chukwudi, added: “The kind of environmental hazards that we are facing along the Airport–Obiri-Ikwerre Road — the smell on that road being the entrance into the state — we felt it’s not proper,” he said. “So, we are making alternative arrangements to have a permanent refuse dumpsite that meets acceptable standards.”
The statement said the state government would quickly formalize ownership of the land and complete construction work on the access road to make the new site functional.
“We have not concluded the issue of the borrow pit, but regarding the access road, I think the government is doing something about it. So, I will make sure that everything that needs to be done to ensure the government owns this borrow pit is completed,” he added.
Fubara also commended RIWAMA for taking deliberate steps to manage refuse across the state.
