The development of a strategic roadmap by the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration for the environment may have set the stage for Lagos to live up to its Centre of Excellence appellation. BUNMI OGUNMODEDE writes on the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) – Lagos’ new move against filth.
After a comprehensive review of its Environmental Sanitation Laws, the Lagos State government has introduced the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) for to effectively manage waste.
The systemic failure in Private Sector Participation (PSP) operators’ involvement in waste management informed the CLI idea, with which the government hopes to tame refuse and create jobs.
Earlier in the year, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode ordered the city-cleaners – the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) – to stop further collection of waste bills. He directed that all payments should henceforth, be remitted to the accounts of PSP operators.
The directives came on the heels of the cancellation of the monthly environmental sanitation, which was introduced by the state government during the administration of former Governor Bola Tinubu.
Since he came on board, Ambode has never hidden his plan to radically reform the state’s sanitation laws and waste management policy.
Last year, the government signed a $135 million (about N85 billion) partnership agreement with a foreign firm. The partnership, under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, is expected to last for four years.
Ambode highlighted his administration’s policy direction on waste management when he spoke last week at MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos Island. It was at the annual lecture of the Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL). The lecture had “Living well together, tomorrow: The challenge of Africa’s future cities” as its theme. The governor told his audience of the massive reform being proposed in waste management.
The implementation of the reform, according to him, kicks off by July.
He said the time had come for the state to evolve a new waste management policy that would not only be befitting of a mega city state but ensure that the state remains clean and safe for healthy living.
His words: “We are also embarking on massive reform in the waste and sanitation management system. I don’t like the way the city is and the Private Sector Participants (PSP) collectors are not having enough capacity to do it but again should I tax people to death. The answer is no.
“I don’t want to tax the people. So, we need this partnership with private sector operators so that they can invest in the sanitation management of the city and in no time, maybe by July, the city will change forever.”
The Environment Commissioner, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, said more than 600 Mercedes Benz compactors would be deployed and thousands of street sweepers engaged in all the wards across the state when the policy comes on stream.
The PSP operators, Adejare explained, will be restricted to handling commercial waste, even as the existing landfill sites will be closed. Transfer Loading Stations (TLS) will be built in all local government areas and more than one million ultra-modern waste bins deployed.
The litre bins will be fitted with censors to monitor their movement against theft and vandalism.
Explaining the need for the introduction of a new technology into waste management, the commissioner stressed that the decision to contract waste management under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement was taken because of the high cost which the state could no longer shoulder in the face of limited resources.
Under the reform, Adejare said three coded waste bags would be distributed to homes for proper sorting and waste disposal by residents.
He said: “The result of this new arrangement is that waste disposal will no longer be a challenge as efficient system will be on ground for effective management which will eventually eradicate cart pushers in the process.”
Why the CLI
The CLI has been established as an extensive and sustainable waste management system to maximize the state’s potential in solid waste management, with focus on recycling, waste recovery and reduction efforts, liquid waste management, drainage management and waste water treatment.
The news arrangement will also develop sufficient infrastructure for collection, processing and disposal of all waste to meet the state’s environmental objectives.
“Specifically, it will create the enabling environment for non-governmental agencies, the private sector and the government to harness international best practices in this vital area of infrastructure”, it was learnt.
The Nation learnt that the CLI will add value and empower those at the bottom of the value chain as it will incorporate citizens as solution providers. They will be taking up responsibilities for the sanitation of their immediate communities.
Contrary to the fears of the PSP operators losing their jobs, no fewer than 27,500 community sanitation workers would be engaged under the scheme.
A government source, who pleaded for anonymity, told The Nation: “While these jobs are important, the induced effect of higher spending power is where we hope to create about 400,000-500,000 jobs. These jobs are those generated as a benefit of the increased expenditures in the supply and distribution chains from the new employees spending more money in the general economy.”
“The local multiplier effect of a progressive policy that pays above the federally mandated minimum wage in distributional terms is immeasurable. The positive impact on low-income households is particularly beneficial, not only to direct beneficiaries within the household, but also within the local economy as higher spending by workers typically results in an increase in demands of goods and services within their local communities.
“The relentless efforts of the administration regarding employment for out of work youth who make up almost 50 per cent of the entire Lagos population have been exemplary. The state hopes to ultimately drive meaningful job growth and create opportunities in entirely new industries.
“An increase in monthly income with the creation of thousands of jobs on the state economy translates to overall improvement in public finances, thereby acting as a catalyst for the delivery of socio-economic values across the state.”
New roles for operators
The revised legislative framework harmonising the various laws on environment into a single law to allow for a more convenient administration of the law and management of the environment gave consideration to PSP operators. But CLI has laid emphasis on elaborate and standardised regulation of the environment.
In designing a sustainable waste management system, the government adopted a holistic approach to addressing the unique problems of Lagos as a city-state with its estimated 22 million population.
The strategic policy, expected to tame Lagos waste is a product of the ministries of Environment, Justice, Urban and Physical Planning.
A source said: “We have developed enforcement and most importantly, financing strategy, to support the initiatives. Over the past 10 months, these efforts have been shaped into the Cleaner Lagos Initiative.
“The role of the PSPs in the restructuring of the waste management system in Lagos going forward will be to serve the commercial sector of the state.
“The positive impact that PSPs efforts have had over the years on the Lagos landscape is undeniable. However, we cannot deny that we need a comprehensive waste management system that is world standard. Currently, we do not have an existing structure in place to support those endeavours.
The restructuring will benefit PSP operators because the state plans to introduce new environmental policies and laws that not only protect the citizens and the environment but all waste management operators who painstakingly invest the resources into helping with the clean-up of the city.”
The restructuring has created new operational parameters, which will see the existing operators working in the commercial and public sectors.
The source went on: “The law makes new provisions that protect the interests of existing investments by requiring all commercial entities to have a valid and enforceable contract with a registered operator.
“There are over 10,000 registered commercial businesses in Lagos. So, the PSP operators are still very much relevant in the new waste management system.
“Sustainable long-term funding is needed at both the state and local levels to support the efforts needed to reach the state’s goals. Therefore, systematic planning is critical to the long-term success of this comprehensive plan we have for the state.
“We have worked to improve safety and security by boosting the security forces, the emergency response capabilities and by improving lighting. We are now turning our focus to sanitation and the environment- there is no denial that the system is flawed.
“This administration has chosen to take the bull by the horns and address the challenges within waste management that are affecting our health, our economy and the very livelihoods of future generations to come in a phased, strategic and successful manner.”
Our fears, by PSP operators
Living with the fear that the reform may erase their jobs, waste managers, under the auspices of the Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria (AWAN), last Thursday, rushed to the Lagos State House of Assembly for protection.
According to them, their investment is threatened, with the government’s “Cleaner Lagos Initiative”.
They kicked against the new bill to harmonise all environment-related laws in the state into one. A public hearing was being held on the bill entitled: “A Bill for a Law to Provide for the Management, Protection and Sustainable Development of the Environment in Lagos State and for other Connected Purposes” at the Assembly when the AWAN members stormed the complex.
The protesters carried different placards with various inscriptions, such as: “Dear Hon. members, Lagos MOE wants to cede our services to foreign firms, Monopoly! Wetin we fit do self”; “Inequitable! 80 per cent to Oyinbo, 20 per cent to Lagosians not acceptable”; “If my people cannot clean their city, what can dey do? Asiwaju Tinubu said in 2006”; and “The Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, we humbly plead with you to speak for our investment which is the bedrock of entire Lagos Activities”.
Mr. Taju Ekemode, the spokesman for the more than 200 protesters, who are PSP chief executive officers and managing directors, said the new law that has ceded 80 per cent of waste management to foreign investors would adversely affect their investments.
Ekemode, who is AWAN’s Vice Chairman, said: “We are here today to let the lawmakers know our feelings, what we suffer and what we may suffer with the new Cleaner Lagos Planning policy.We have been doing this job well over the years and there has been no problems.”
He described as unfair the government’s plan to hire a foreign firm to clean Lagos.
He said: “We are not against reform in any way, but the reform should be around the current PSP; that is what we are saying. The policy directing us to leave the streets to allow foreign firms to take over will kill businesses. Where do we put those trucks? We can’t use them to carry sand. Those trucks cannot be used for any other thing, apart from wastes. What do we do with our investments? What do we do with the loans we got from banks?
“Before the bill is passed, we want the lawmakers to consider the PSP as representatives of the people. The governor said we should take over the commercial place, but the percentage of commercial centre in Lagos is just about 20 compared to what is being ceded to foreign investment.”
Government: No cause for worry
Going by the state government’s explanation, the protesting members of the Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria (AWAN) may be living with the fear of the harmless.
In apparent response to a suit by the association of PSP (Private Sector Participant) operators reportedly served on relevant ministries within the state government, Environment Commissioner Babatunde Adejare, listed the gains of the new policy.
A statement by the commissioner identified the people’s safety and wellbeing as priority for the Akinwunmi-led government.
The statement reads: “We firmly believe in protecting and guaranteeing the basic human rights of the people. We acknowledged the numerous challenges that have plagued the state when it comes to sanitation. When our administration took over, it was apparent to us that we needed to make determined efforts towards water, sanitation and hygiene.
“This is why over the last 10 months, we have taken a holistic approach to identifying the unique problems and have focused on creating a framework for a sustainable integrated waste management system.
“We sought and obtained executive council approval to carry out a full review along with the ministries of Finance and the Justice, we put the existing laws and policies under a microscope, we have reviewed them to reflect that sanitation is treated as a non-negotiable requisite in Lagos.
“And we have come up with strategies for regulation, enforcement and most importantly financing to support the initiatives. The Cleaner Lagos Initiative was born from the results of this process.
The CLI was established as an extensive and sustainable waste management system for Lagos that will maximise the state’s potential in solid waste management with recycling, recovery and waste reduction efforts, liquid waste management, drainage management, and waste water treatment. It also seeks to fully develop sufficient infrastructure for collection, proper processing and disposal of all waste to meet the state’s environmental objectives.
“The first phase of the initiative, tackles solid waste management which is in a clear state of crisis due to the moribund supporting infrastructure that must be beefed up- bin placement, transfer loading stations, material recovery facilities and of course landfills.
The current arrangement is highly cumbersome – LAWMA in its role as regulator is expected to coordinate the activities of 350 individual companies and still carry out its own collection services.
