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Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers State, has frowned at the dumpsite along the busy Port Harcourt Airport–Obiri-Ikwerre Road, describing it as a public health threat and a damaging first impression for visitors arriving Port Harcourt, the state capital.
In this light, he has unveiled plans to relocate it to a permanent site farther away from the city lines.
Fubara made this known on Tuesday, October 21, 2025 during an inspection of a proposed replacement site, which is a disused burrow pit near Bambo Estate, off Eneka Road in Igwuruta, Ikwerre Local Government Area.
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Nelson Chukwudi, Chief Press Secretary to the governor, in a release, said the location is being assessed as a potential permanent dumpsite for the state.
Fubara, who was accompanied by Samuel Nwanosike, Board Chairman, Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA), and Ibimina Wokoma, Managing Director, expressed concern about the environmental and health challenges posed by the existing site, which sits along a major entry point into the state.
“The kind of environmental hazards that we are facing there 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 so we can have a permanent refuse dumpsite that meets acceptable standards.”
He added that the government would move swiftly to formalise 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 burrow pit, but 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 government owns this burrow pit is done,” he said.
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Fubara also commended the state waste management agency (RIWAMA) for what he described as a more assertive and improved approach to managing refuse across the state.
The governor also paid a visit to the Permanent Secretaries’ Quarters located in Elimgbu Town, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, to assess the extent of ongoing construction work on the facility.
