With the unveiling of new reforms, the Lagos State government is set to transform waste management, environment and the economy, writes MUYIWA LUCAS.
It was an unusual gathering, coming just a few days after the ministry’s monthly media parley was held.
And the entry of the state’s commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare and his Information and Strategy counterpart, Steve Ayorinde, meant it was not business as usual. As the duo, accompanied by other members of the ministry sauntered into the PearlWorth Hotel, Ikeja conference room, it was glaring that something ‘big’ was in the offing.
The occasion turned out to be one that would catapult the state into the next level of waste management, which has remained a sour point in the affairs of a state with an estimated 22 million people.
Using graphics to explain the reform, tagged the Cleaner Lagos Initiative, Adejare noted the flaws in the structure as well as dynamics of the system. Besides creating an enabling environment for the private sector to harness international best practices, the initiative will equally tackle challenges in solid waste management in the state.
“The Cleaner Lagos Initiative aims to protect the environment, human health and social living standards of Lagos residents by promoting a harmonised and holistic approach to the waste and environmental challenges, thereby ensuring improved operational efficiency. It will also address the lacunae in the legislation to expand the scope of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) to enable it enforce, regulate and generate revenue from the waste management process,” he explained.
To this end, Adejare said the government would carry out a recertification of all the 350 PSP operators, relicense them and audit the state of their compactors. Besides, five new power stations – one in each division in the state – will be built to generate power from wastes, and the numerous dumpsites dotting parts of the state will soon be a thing of the past.
As part of the initiative, Olusosun and Solus dumpsites are to be closed next year, because it has been established that they are dangerous to health and the environment.
“We plan to regenerate Olusosun and turn it into a park, where intercity buses will end their journey and would no longer be allowed to enter into the city. Passengers will from there take taxis and intra-city buses to their destinations in town,” he explained.
Alaso, he said about 25,000 people would be engaged as street sweepers. They would be well-kitted with decent uniforms, gloves, boots, pickers, brushes, carts as well as mobile phones with which to communicate with the control centre, and they would be well paid.
To make them effective, every sanitation worker will reside in where they operate, especially for convenience and to curb the high cost of fare to work. They will be will be well-trained and given an attractive welfare package.
“In all, we hope to generate a total of 46,000 new jobs,” he said.
The commissioner, who disclosed that a law is in the works to back the Initiative, said the scheme would allow big-time players in the waste management sector to do business with the state.
This is why Lagosians will be required to pay a public utility levy (PUL), which is not a tax but something similar to what is being paid to PSP operators. Part of the PUL goes into an Environment Trust Fund.
The commissioner, who described the situation as a “broken system,” regretted that several factors had combined to cripple the smooth running of the state’s waste management. Some of these include hindrance of regular waste collection by a vicious cycle between clients and operators as poor collection service delivery leads to irregular and poor payments; bin placement, transfer loading stations (TLS), and other supporting infrastructure had been ignored and undue attention placed on waste collection only.
Besides, the waste billing system is said to be unduly complicated due to the differences and inconsistencies in charges and collection routes, therefore, leaving the billing system open to manipulation and fraud.
Adejare said LAWMA, as regulator for waste management, is overwhelmed by the responsibilities of having to coordinate 350 companies and still carry out its own collection.
To address the situation, he said there would be a transformation of the TLS to modern ones, including the introduction of no fewer than 25 Material Revolving Facility (MRF) where wastes will be sorted. Also, 600 new compactor vehicles will be acquired. Each compactor will be tracked while the state will be divided into zones for ease of allocation of compactors. There will be a control room where every compactor will be monitored, and existing waste dumpsites will be closed and replaced with engineered sanitary landfill sites. The government is considering sites in Badagry, Epe and Ikorodu for the five sanitary landfills being proposed. The leachate and gas to be recovered from the proposed sanitary landfills will be put to good use.
“The PSP and LAWMA partnership was quite effective, but is no longer applicable, considering the fact that the population of Lagos has increased several fold (and still increasing) and the over 300 compactors in use are old and not suitable for modern waste collection. Wastes should not bring us hardship and shame, but rather we should make money from it. Emphasis will be on zero-dumping, recycling and generation of power from wastes,” he explained.
When fully implemented, Adejare is convinced that the new arrangement will ensure that waste disposal will no longer be a challenge in the state. An efficient system would have been put in ground for effective management to eradicate cart pushers in the city.
