Mounting refuse at Oil Mill Market in Rivers State raises concern among traders and motorists

Traders and motorists at Oil Mill Market in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State have raised concerns over offensive odours, possible health risks and traffic congestion created by mounting refuse on the roads.

In an interview with our reporter, Emeka Williams, a market leader who wished to remain anonymous, blamed the contractor responsible for waste collection and called for urgent action to clear the refuse.

Some market women also expressed frustration over the situation, saying the offensive odour was making the market less attractive to customers at a time when traders were already struggling to make sales.

However, the Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA) has pushed back against claims that its contractors are failing to evacuate the waste, insisting that the problem is largely caused by indiscriminate dumping by informal waste collectors.

The agency’s Head of Media and Advocacy, Harry Henry, said RIWAMA was treating the situation as a priority, noting that several sensitisation campaigns and engagements had been conducted to educate traders and residents on proper waste disposal.

Henry maintained that the agency and its contractors were evacuating waste along the Oil Mill axis daily, arguing that fresh refuse was often dumped after collection teams had completed their work.

Henry explained that the agency had also engaged the Obio-Akpor Local Government Council and the community’s paramount ruler over plans to establish designated refuse collection points in the market to prevent waste from accumulating along the road median.

He said the plan had faced challenges because some market operators and community members opposed the proposed collection points, while disputes over market spaces and the collection of fees had complicated efforts to secure suitable locations.

“The idea was to build receptacles, that is, refuse collection points in the market so that we'll not have that proliferation of refuse along the median, that's the middle of the road. But unfortunately, the market people have been going against all the plans.”

According to him, informal waste collectors, popularly known as cart pushers, often collect refuse from homes and businesses and dump it along the road median during the day, contrary to RIWAMA’s approved disposal hours of 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

“Fingers have been pointed to those informal waste workers. Those people they call aboki. You know, what they do is, they pick up refuse in the morning. When they pick up this refuse in the morning, maybe say 6:00 a.m., 7:00 a.m., 8:00 a.m. as the case may be, they take this refuse straight to the middle of the road.”

Henry said this practice creates the impression that contractors are not working, even though they evacuate refuse daily, often continuing their operations into the early morning.

He added that the repeated dumping forces contractors to make additional trips, increasing their operating costs and making it difficult to keep the area clean.

“Our service providers, our contractors sometimes go on two or three trips. And you know what it costs to put diesel in some of these trucks. And they come to work at night, and by the contract, they're supposed to terminate their work maybe at 7:00 a.m, but they are forced to come back to run double trips.

“Unfortunately, that's where they have agreed among themselves to be dumping the refuse. I'm talking about the cat pushers and residents around there. So, the managing director led a delegation to meet with the Paramount Ruler, discussions were done and the Paramount Ruler agreed to provide a place. But I know there had been challenges for him because the youth leaders, the market leaders around that area collect money from these residents and people around there.

“So, any space you find that you want to use to build receptacles, somebody will tell you that's my market space area. That's where I collect money. And we have been saddled with that challenge that has been a major problem. Up till now, we've not been able to build receptacles around that area.”

To address the problem, Henry disclosed that a task force would be established at waste collection centres to arrest offenders, assuring residents that the accumulated refuse would be cleared.