On Tuesday, members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) rolled out trucks and caterpillarss to clear heaps of garbage dotting different dump sites in the city. Hundreds of APC members rolled their sleeves and went to various stinking dump sites which were overfilled with garbage.
Adorned in T-shirts with an inscription, “Sylva cleans Bayelsa”, the party faithful who carried shovels, basins and other cleaning tools sang and danced as they helped to evacuate the rubbish. The gesture attracted admirations from residents who hailed the determination of party members to tackle intractable problems of environmental pollution in the capital city.
Why residents jubilated and endured traffic gridlocks as the sanitation exercise lasted is not far-fetched. The state capital has been characterised by poor hygiene. It has become a horrendous task for the government to clear refuse from dump sites. Most times, the garbage sites which are located along the roads and close to markets and schools are mountainous.
Such sites emit offensive odour and raise fears of possible outbreak of epidemics. It is as if the government was overwhelmed. Most times the refuse overflow into the roads and cause traffic gridlock. Even after evacuation, in few days, the garbage resurfaces. The government once blamed its inability to constantly clear them on paucity of funds.
Therefore, when residents woke to see heaps of garbage being cleared by the members of APC, they were happy that the opposition closed ranks with the government to come to their rescue.
As expected, the Bayelsa State government and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state regarded the cleaning of Yenagoa, the state capital by the APC as mere political action.
But most residents of Yenagoa considered the decision of the APC and its governorship candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva to clean the capital city as a humanitarian gesture. Most of them did not give political interpretations to the action.
They discovered that the government-controlled sanitation authority also mobilised to clear other garbage dumps. At the end, the city of Yenagoa was the major beneficiary. It became cleaner than it had ever been in a long while.
The APC cleaners paid more attention to mountains of garbage located along the roads, close to schools and markets.
The Director, Media and Publicity, Sylva/Igir Campaign Organisation (SICO), Chief Nathan Egba who led the exercise, said the campaign outfit and leadership of the APC initiated the cleaning exercise to avert outbreak of epidemics in the state.
He said the government was no longer able to manage the environmental situation in the state, especially in Yenagoa.
“Epidemics, diseases and other health hazards are likely to break out. Garbage is piled up in front of schools, markets and even in front of the Deputy Governor’s facility. We intend to help the Deputy Governor to pack the rubbish.
“The idea is to help the government clean up the place and ensure that our people are able to live in a disease and epidemic-free environment,” he said. He maintained that many communities had cried out to SICO for help in evacuating mountains of garbage in their areas.
He said: “Our focus at the moment is Yenagoa because the situation in the capital city is largely an emergency. Practically, everywhere garbage dump in the city is overfilled with trash and we need to clear them because it is obvious that Dickson’s administration has abandoned governance.
“They are focused on how to win an election which we all know they cannot win. As a party coming into power, we don’t need to wait. We believe that we should be doing this kind of thing until the election and the day of swearing in.
“We will continue to do it as long as Dickson’s people are not able to do it. It is Bayelsa people we are working for.”
Egba faulted claims by the government that it could not regularly clear the waste because of paucity of funds, saying the government misapplied revenue accruing to it.
He said if judiciously applied, revenues accruing to the state were enough to take care of every aspect of the state’s economy. He wondered what the government was doing with all the sanitation levies paid to it by all business ventures in the state.
“All funds have been misapplied and everything is channelled into politics and election alone. Everything has broken down. But an APC administration will ensure good governance and proper application of funds. When Sylva was a governor, these things were never a problem,” he said.
Speaking in the same manner, the SICO’s Woman Leader, Mrs. Vivian Ere Imananagha, explain that the exercise was informed by a directive from Sylva.
She said: “When Sylva came on tour of the city, he saw that there was so much hold-up and wondered what was causing it. He got to the point where it started and found out it was caused by mountainous garbage.
“He asked the women and youths of APC to assist in cleaning the state. People are sitting by the rubbish to sell and buy foodstuffs. Diseases that follow the trash are numerous. APC is the party that will clean Bayelsa.”
Also, SICO’s Director, Mobilisation, Dr. Selekaye Victor-Ben, said APC was on a rescue mission.
“We are out on the streets of Bayelsa on a rescue mission. We came out to answer the cry of the people of the state on the rising concern over the sanitary conditions in the state.
“The poor sanitary condition and the failure of Dickson administration to tackle it is indication that the people of the state have lost confidence in him. It shows that the emergence of Dickson was a mistake that should be corrected come December 5,” he said.
But the government only saw the gesture as bad campaign strategy. The Director of Publicity, Dickson’s campaign organisation, Mr. Jonathan Obuabite, described the APC’s action as “a deceitful style of campaign” and asked the party to look for other sane and more dignifying means of campaign.
He advised Bayelsans and other residents of the state to be wary of the antics of members of the APC “who are desperate to grab power through the back door by advancing various dubious means.”
He said: “This has now confirmed to everyone the earlier assertion that it is indeed the so-called change party that is responsible for the heap of refuse around the state, particularly in Yenagoa, the state capital.
“They decided to carry out the show of shame on a day that is usually set aside by the state sanitation authority for evacuation.
“We advise the APC and its embattled candidate, Timipre Sylva to look for other sane and more dignifying means of campaign as this latest style would not secure for him the votes required to be elected.”
Obuabite added that Dickson was fully committed to governance and ensuring a cleaner and healthy environment for all.
