The Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Creek View says it recovered 66.6 kilo grams of plastics, and 73 bags of mixed solid waste after a cleanup exercise carried out by members of the club at the Marine Base Jetty in Port Harcourt local government area.
President of the Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Creek View, Uzodinma Akwarandu the sanitation exercise was carried out in line with one of Rotary area of focus: Protecting the Environment. He said “As Rotarians, we understand the level of environmental menace of improper waste disposal and plastics. So it’s a step to promote change and add our voice to the global climate crisis fight!”.
President of the Rotary club of Port Harcourt Creek View, Uzodinma Akawarandu added that the discovery of such amount of debris at the Marine Base Jetty poses a threat to the habitants in that area and the environment as well.
Rotarian Uzodinma Akwarandu said the response of the community people to Rotarians during the sanitation exercise indicated that they are yet to take seriously the issue of sanitation. “What we notice during the Sanitation in that area is that the people are ignorant of the health & environmental impact of poor Sanitation practices. Also, they lack access to government approved designated dumpsite. They reacted ignorantly, thinking Rotarians were sponsored by government or oil sector, thereby demanding for their own quarter. Even after several community engagements and advocacy visits… They didn’t participate voluntarily. They keep giving conditions to participate rather than contribute.. Only few felt our impact and thanked us. Others keep saying, we’re motivated by what government has given us and we don’t want to involve them, so they can’t volunteer”, Akwarandu said.
President Akwarandu however assured that Rotary will continue to carry out projects that will sensitize the people on protecting the environment, “Rotary shares an interest in protecting our common legacy: the environment. We are committed to supporting activities that strengthen the conservation and protection of natural resources, advance ecological sustainability, and foster harmony between communities and the environment”.
The sanitation was carried out in partnership with the Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Atlantic city, African Cleanup Initiative, JCI, The Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance and others.
