The Nation Newspaper

Tag: generates

  • Lagos generates 10,000 tonnes of waste daily, says LAWMA

    The Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) evacuates 10,000 tonnes of refuse daily, its Managing Director, Mr Ola Oresanya said yesterday.

    He said given the cosmopolitan nature of the state, it is expected that large volumes of waste would be generated by the people regularly.

    Oresanya identified indiscriminate dumping of refuse as a major challenge to the agency in the outgoing year.

    “In Lagos we generate daily average of about 10,000 metric tonnes. And you know what 1,000 tonnes looks like; 1,000 tonnes will fill 100 trailers. The core challenge here is just the habit of the people,” he said.

    The public, he said, had the habit of dumping wastes in unauthorised areas.“Though the habit is reducing, but it’s a major one and we are addressing it,” he said.

    On commercial drivers having waste bins in their vehicles, Oresanya said the policy has not improved hygiene in Lagos.

    “I don’t see any relevance with waste bins in vehicles and public hygiene. If you have a waste bin in the bus and I am sitting at the back, do I throw waste over the head of the people before me into the bin?

    “What we tell the transport workers is to make sure that when they get to their garage, they sweep their vehicles and we have bins in garages where they put these things. And if you have a car, you can put wastes in your carpet and once you get to where you are going, you clean it up,” he said.

    LAWMA, Oresanya said, would soon roll out 30,000 new roller bins to enhance wastes evacuation.

    The roller bins, he said, would be given to residents who pay land use charges.

    “Residents who already have the bins will not be considered because this is a revolving system. As people pay the land use charge, they get one waste bin free and the charge is ploughed back to buy more bins for distribution to other areas,” he said.

    The ban on cart pushers, he said, is still in force, noting that their activities cannot be eradicated totally in some areas.

    He said the agency was making efforts to ensure that more Private Sector Participation (PSP) operators are licensed to service more locations.

  • FIRS generates N3.81tr revenue in nine months

    FIRS generates N3.81tr revenue in nine months

    The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) says it generated N3.81 trillion as revenue in nine months.

    The FIRS made the claim yesterday in Abuja in a statement signed by Mr Emmanuel Obeta, its Director of Communications.

    “With this amount, the FIRS has surpassed the N3.6 trillion provisional annual budget estimate nine months into the year, with oil taxes recording N2.399 trillion and N1.406 trillion for non-oil.

    “The collection represents increased revenue collection performance of about N890 billion, when compared to the total collection of N2.91 trillion for the same period in 2011.’’

    The statement said the FIRS had so far collected and remitted the sum of N23.30 billion tax revenue due to the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) for the first nine months of 2012.

    It said the amount represented “Pay-As-You-Earn’’ (PAYEE) tax and Personal Income Tax (PIT) collected from FCT residents.

    This, it added, reflected an increase in tax collection in the period, when compared to the N21. 94 billion remitted to FCTA for the same period in 2011.

    “In 2011, the service recorded N955.19 billion tax collection in the first quarter, N985.30 billion in the second quarter and N974.65 billion in the third quarter,’’ the statement said.

    It added that the 2012 figure represented a remarkable increase in tax collection, which comprised N1.172 trillion in first quarter, N1.267 trillion in the second quarter and N1.366 trillion in the third quarter respectively.

    It also said that the N23.30 billion so far remitted to the FCTA represented a considerable increase in FIRS’ collection and remittance, when compared to the N23.24 billion figure in 2010.

    “A breakdown of the collection, from January to September shows that the sum of N2.027 billion was realised in January, N2.691 billion in February, N3.133 billion in March, N2.721 billion in April and N3.044 billion in May.

    “The figure recorded in June was N2.221 billion, N3.055 billion in July, N2.463 billion in August, while N1.947 billion was generated as tax revenue in September.

    “Remarkably, FIRS has taken steps to bring more potential taxpayers into the tax net through the establishment of Satellite Tax Offices (STO) across the FCT’s major markets in 2012,’’ it said .

    Part of FIRS’ effort is to improve taxpayer’s education and services, processes and procedures as well as bring tax administration closer to taxpayers in order to enhance voluntary tax compliance.

    Statutorily, the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act, Cap T2, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2007 empowered the FIRS to collect taxes on behalf of the Federal Government in FCT.

    The extant law clearly stipulates the taxes to be collected by the Federal Government to include Companies Income Tax, Withholding Tax on Companies, residents of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and non – resident individuals, Petroleum Profit Tax, Value Added Tax, and Education Tax.

    Others are Capital Gains Tax on residents of the FCT, Abuja, bodies’ corporate and non–resident individuals, Stamp Duties on bodies corporate and residents of the FCT, Abuja.

    It also includes Personal Income Tax in respect of Members of the Armed forces of the Federation, Members of the Nigeria Police Force, Residents of the Federal Capital Territory, Staff of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and non- resident individuals.

    However, there is the need for more collaboration and partnership among relevant stakeholders within the territory in order to actualise the Service determination to expand the revenue base of the country.