Stakeholders in the environment sector are speaking on the way out of the waste management challenges in Rivers state and other peculiar states in the country.
While some call for effective and efficient recycling system to minimize the size of wastes, others suggest the creation of landfills in place of dumpsites and enabling law to regulate waste management.
The stakeholders who spoke with correspondent Blessing Ituma re-echoed the need to make the earth sustainable which is the focal point of this year’s world environment day.
It could have been assumed that waste management was an all-comers affair and that anyone can handle it but the challenges waste management has posed in Rivers state proves that assumption wrong and buttresses the fact that the management of solid wastes and other waste materials should be in the hands of professionals.
What is the way forward in tackling the myriads of challenges posed by waste management in Rivers state and other peculiar states?
The National President of Waste Management society of Nigeria, Mr. Essien Akpabio says there’s need for political will and conscious efforts to make the earth sustainable in line with the theme of world environment day 2022.
The Zonal Coordinator of NESREA, South/South, Mr. Nosa Aigbedion told radio Nigeria that waste to wealth was a major way to minimize wastes and that hazardous wastes as metals and electronics should be managed in a more engineered manner.
A former President of WAMASON, Mr. Rueben Ossai notes that scavenging is good but should be restricted to dumpsites and that wastes management in Rivers State should be privatized while the Counsellor, Rivers state, Dr. Williams Iyama calls for enabling law and policies that would restrict waste management to professionals.
A females environmentalist, Mrs. Roseline Taneh recommends landfill for waste disposal in place of dumpsites which have phased out.
In the meantime, a Director in the Rivers state Ministry of Environment, Mr. Lekia Kinane has called for synergy among stakeholders, government and the private sector to achieve the needed result in the state.
As the population grows, waste generation grows. It is therefore hoped that government at all levels would depoliticize waste management and allow professionals tackle the rising challenges in the sector.
In Port Harcourt, Blessing Ituma, Radio Nigeria
