The Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA) has adopted a smart waste collection initiative aimed at tackling growing refuse heaps and environmental concerns in the state.
Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, has, since last year, experienced steadily growing heaps of refuse along major roads and in suburban centres, heightening calls for an environmental audit.
In a bid to tackle the refuse heaps, RIWAMA, led by Ibimina Wokoma, its managing director, adopted the smart collection initiative, which is expected to kick off in October this year.
The smart waste collection initiative, a technology-driven system aimed at making refuse collection more organised, traceable and responsive, was initially scheduled to begin in May 2026.
The project, which will begin in Port Harcourt, Obio/Akpor and surrounding areas, uses real-time data and digital monitoring to optimise collection routes and monitor waste movement from households to approved dumpsites.
Harry Sotonye Henry, RIWAMA’s Head of Media and Advocacy, said in a radio interview on Wednesday that the agency and its technical partners were completing training for vendors and other stakeholders expected to participate in the project.
Explaining the delay in starting the new waste collection initiative, Henry said the agency was also working to fix some problems identified during the test run.
He said: ‘The initiative is fully on course. It goes through a process. You get the vendors, you profile them and take them through sessions. That process is what we have been doing over the past week. The last one we had was the practical session. So, hopefully, before the end of next month-let’s say in October-we should be using the smart collection app.’
Sotonye Henry said the delay in deploying about 25 newly acquired waste trucks was because the agency was putting safety measures in place before they were used. He said the trucks were expected to be deployed on the roads by September.
‘This is meant to boost the refuse collection system in the state. Since the purchase of these vehicles, we have overhauled them and also examined how we could customise them by installing tracking systems and other relevant gadgets. These vehicles will be going to distant places, so there is a need to put proper security and safety measures in place,’ he said.
The growing heaps of refuse on road medians across the state capital have become a major environmental crisis, with civil society groups calling for a state environmental audit.