Ensuring Effective Waste Management in Lagos: A Comprehensive Approach

The heaps of refuse doting Lagos metropolis which has gotten to an epidemic level can be checked by the government assisting PSP Operators with infrastructure upgrade, ensuring Cost Relative Tariff ( CRT), and employing environmental officers in each ward to ensure compliance. President, Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria (AWAMN), Olugbenga Adebola who spoke to The Nation in his office lamented the state of Lagos metropolis currently unlike when it used to be a role model in waste management that other countries in Africa were coming to learn how the government of the day achieved a beautiful Lagos environment without filth during the administration of Governors Bola Tinubu and by extension that of Babatunde Fashola. He said it was like the eye of government had been taken from the ball and called for urgent measures to address the digression. He said: “ The government must create an enabling environment by assuring the Private Sector participants of their return on investment, government must ensure that soft loans and grants are made available for Operators because currently a compactor truck is almost N180million and just how operators can afford it. Little reason you see incessant broken down trucks on the roads. “ “If the government fails to assist the players in the sector to acquire needed infrastructure, equipment and training of participants nothing will happen in terms of having a clean environment”. READ ALSO: Why Northern Nigeria must put education first He stressed that the issue of waste management cannot be left to market variables adding that there must be subsides to encourage participants as the United States and other governments of the world subsidise famers and other sectors to stay afloat. Effective and efficient waste management predates visit to hospital and should be avoided in a megacity such as Lagos he stated. He maintained that if government invests in the management of the environment little will be done to keeping the population healthy. On the other roles that can be played by government to achieve a filth free environment. He canvassed the need for government to meet the PSP operators half way by encouraging single digit interest to encourage them acquire the necessary tools for effectiveness. Tenement payment must be assigned to Operators to ensure that residents pay for the service because those who don’t pay for refuse collection are those who drop refuse carelessly on the road medians and drains frustrating attempts to have a clean city he stated. Also, Adebola called on the Federal Government to assign a special status to Lagos as done in India and other countries as a result of the migration of people to the state. He argued in favour of massive rehabilitation of all dump site , access roads, multiple tipping point to ensure daily carting of refuse. The government must also institute a process of ensuring prompt payment in the extant laws to safe guard the PSP’s while also monitoring their activities that they are fulfilling their mandates to the citizenry. The AWAMN president also called for a lease- to- own mechanism as was obtainable during the administration of Babatunde Fashola where PSP operators where assisted to procure trucks which are still in use today. According to him with out such deliberate policy there will be no end to mountains of refuse. He encouraged a long term plan instead of half- measures and non sustainable knee- jerk plans which he said will never achieve the desired result.