WE’RE BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE MEGACITY THROUGH PROPER WASTE MANAGEMENT – LASG
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The Lagos State Government on Thursday restated that the state is building a sustainable megacity through proper waste management to shape the state’s future.
The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, made this known when he featured on the X Space programme, adding that the issue of refuse management has become a global narrative, but the State is determined to achieve the best in this regard.
He recalled that the Government, about two decades ago, set up a structure called the Public Private Partnership model, where the PSP structure would be functional across the 377 wards of the state, with the regulators as Lagos State Waste Management Authority
(LAWMA), saying the state had grown exponentially between then and now.
He said the population had grown and was still growing, which accorded Lagos a megacity status, adding that the State generated between 13,000 and 14,000 tons of waste daily, which is known as the linear waste management system (pick and dump).
He added that the present administration wants the residents to now see that they can exchange cash for their waste, as it can be converted to energy and by so doing, the state is transitioning to a more sustainable, environmentally friendly waste management
system.
He explained that despite the transition, the PSP Operators have some challenges, which are not just economic but also global in the sense that most of them are struggling to meet their obligations of ensuring proper waste disposal in the state.
He said one of the challenges comes from residents who would rather want to free ride the system and not pay for the waste they generate, and such people do not patronise PSP operators but dispose of waste indiscriminately across the state.
Wahab said as a result of these PSP operators’ challenges, the state has had strategic meetings with the 57 newly elected Chairmen to collaborate with the State government in ensuring a sustainable environment at the grassroots, saying some are doing very well by
hitting the ground running immediately they were sworn in.
He said the State Government had to put in place 100 trucks to intervene where PSP Operators have challenges, and also plan to attach one Environmental Health Officer to each PSP waste manager as part of proper monitoring measures.
He said the government had signed a concession agreement with a company called Zoom Lion to convert 4,000 tons of daily generated waste to wealth, 55 per cent of the waste to compost fertiliser and recyclables, adding that what ends up in the landfills will now
be less than five per cent.
He added that the government has also initiated an agreement with a company called Harvest Waste, a Dutch company for waste conversion to energy and with another company, Closing the Loop, a Dutch company for electronic waste.
He also cited the example of the LAFARGE company, which is going green and now using some of the waste generated in the state to power its factory, saying these measures would reduce the quantity of waste in the landfills to a minimum.
He said the government’s long-term plan is to decommission Olososun at Ikeja and Soluos 3 at Igando landfills in the next 18 months because they have outlived their lifespan, while opening two new landfills at Ikorodu and Epe.
He stressed that because Lagos is a coastal state, flash floods can not be avoided, saying the state is threatened by 187 kilometres of the Atlantic on the south, rivers, creeks and lagoons in between, noting that nature will always be nature.
He said Climate Change is becoming an issue that the government need to continue to mitigate the negative impacts, as such, everyone should support the government and not allow human elements to aggravate climate challenges.
He said years back, some areas never experienced flooding at all because nature had designed itself on how the water would flow, but sand miners started excavating sand without considering its impacts on the environment.
He added that the government would continue to provide resilient drainage infrastructure across the state to proffer a lasting solution to flooding issues in the state, as well as resilient infrastructure in the areas of roads and security, among others.
He said the biggest struggle in life is room for improvement; as such, the government would continue to give orientation and reorientation to the enforcement team on the best global practices while on duty.
He reiterated that the government had banned street trading as such traders should desist from hawking on the roads, roads medians, road set backs and open spaces, but traders should trade in designated marketplaces.
“To fix a state like Lagos, you’ve got to be firm and very decisive. I must let you know that enforcement, amongst other things, needs to be carried out always to save this place for our future generation,” he added.
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