THERE must be collaboration between the government and Private Sector Participants (PSPs) to achieve an effective and efficient waste management system, the Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria (AWAMN) has said.
The association called for an enabling environment for its members to deliver sparkling streets in the Lagos, the State of Aqua Splendor.
In a chat with reporters in Lagos, AWAMN President Olugbenga Adebola stressed the importance public-private synergy in waste collection and management in the Centre of Excellence.
According to him, efficient waste management requires commitment and collaboration of the government and PSP operators.
He canvassed for a round-table discussion to enable representatives of the government and the association chart a course in tackling identified challenges in the waste management value chain.
Adebola said: “We would like to thank the LASG, the Managing Director of LAWMA who has graciously announced to the whole world that they are buying compacting trucks on the lease to own for PSP operators.
“I think it is a good gesture. However, I want to say, regrettably, that this is not the only solution to effective and efficient waste management, perhaps, 10 to 15 per cent.
“Having an effective and efficient waste management system operating in Lagos state goes beyond just the purchase of trucks for the PSP owners on the lease to own.
“Around October 2023, we did a comprehensive letter to the government, identifying some of the problems militating against effective and efficient waste management in the state.
“As professionals, ours is to identify some of these problems and perhaps find solution,” the AWAMN boss said.
He noted that the challenges identified by the association in its memo of October last year still linger.
Adebola said: “We explained to the government that if we are able to attend to some of the raised issues, we would have made some progress.
“Here we are with the narrative of trucks for lease, we don’t know what make the would-be-trucks are made of.
“The current truck that is been used by LAWMA, which were purchased from Sino trucks, we co-designed the truck to tell them the size of the engine, because of the diesel we have in Nigeria.
“While the whole world is using Euro 10, euro 12, euro 13, in Nigeria we can’t use that and we sat down with the manufacturers to tell them the kind of diesel engine we can use in Nigeria.
“We told them how low bed it could be, why they can also build a back for the attendants, to sit; so we solved the problem of hanging at the back of the truck. These are the things we did with the previous truck.
“We should really be part of this new arrangement, more so, since these trucks are coming on a lease to own, which means that you own by paying, it is not a free of charge thing.
“If we are going to pay for it, the operators need to be involved to be able to have something that would suit us.
“How long lasting, how sustaining are those trucks, are they CNG trucks, are they trucks that is going to run on diesel, what chassis are they made of.
“We don’t know all of these; so we are reading it on the pages of newspapers,” Adebola said.
Stating that the trucks cannot be the solution, Adebola said: “If you are getting a lease to own truck, what mechanism is in place to ensure that you also have an effective and total cost recovery.
“How are you able to recoup and recover savings to be able to pay for the truck? Otherwise, it would turn into a bad debt. With the current charges that is prevalent in the state, I am afraid, you cannot break even.”
He noted that enabling environment begins with the agreement, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) entered between the government and the PSPs.
Adebola went on: “If am investing huge sums of money, how long will it take me to recoup such money with reasonable profit and then pay back such a loan.
“What mechanism is in place that ensures every waste generator actually pays for waste disposal and where it is known that this is the lowest of the lowest of the economy, then, the government must come in.
“What agreement was given to Vision Scape Services (VSS),” Adebola said.
He noted that when Vision Scape was handling waste management under the Ambode regime, it was the government that was paying VSS.
Adebola said: “As an investor, that will help me knowing that every month I have a guaranteed sum of money coming into my account.
“Right now a lot of operators who went to bank and got loan of 27 to 33 per cent cannot repay back, and this is not the type of funding that can support effective and efficient waste management.
“You need green funding. Some will be grant, some will be single digit interest loan, but above all, it must be long term.
“If you go outside the country, people that are into this type of business are getting loan at three, four or five per cent interest and sometimes the tenure is over 20 years.
“You cannot go to a commercial bank in Nigeria and get such a loan,” Adebola said.
Describing waste managers are essential service providers, Adebola said there should be a special funding, either from the state or from the federal for waste management.
