As part of measures to ensure a cleaner city, the Lagos State government has pledged commitment to a 10 year development plan under which 100 new Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, compactor trucks would be procured for use next year.
This plan was disclosed by the Managing Director of the Lagos Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, on Wednesday during a media parley at Alausa Ikeja, adding that subsequently, the state would be introducing between 200 to 250 new trucks every year.
According to him: “To keep Lagos clean. We still need compactor trucks. Altogether, we need about 2000 trucks. 1000 for day to day fleet and 1000 for back up.
“This is a long term investment package that would be supported by a state wide billing system. We will undertake enumeration of every household and billing by the state government. Through automation, you will now get a bill from the state government. When you pay and once we confirm that the PSP operators has done the job, we pay them.”
Gbadegesin reiterated that what LAWMA is working towards is to have transparency and accountability in the system.
“We believe that Lagos residents are ready to pay for waste collection if they will get good service and that is what we will ensure going forward.”
He also stated that as part of measures to sanitize the waste collection and disposal system and ensure standards, the agency had terminated the contract of about 22 PSP waste operators for under performance this year and had gone ahead to give the slot to new ones that were ready to do business.
He announced plans by the state to acquire 500 mobile compactor tricycles by the middle of next year to address the surging wage burden.
The MD said that had become imperative because many areas were very difficult to reach because of the narrowness of the roads and the inaccessibility of some.
His words: “Currently we are running this system in Ibeju Lekki. The chairman of Ibeju Lekki Sesan Olowa came to us about a year ago that the PSP operators in the area are not going into the communities and that he wants to introduce tricycle compactors.
“Around the same time, we got information about an entrepreneur who just brought in tricycle compactors. So we advised that both parties can collaborate and today they have been running that system so well and the people have embraced it in Ineku-Lekki.
“We have now decided we can replicate this in other parts of Lagos. We had a meeting with all local governments recently where they all pledged to support the new system.”
He reiterated that the adoption of the new mobile compactor tricycle could also absorb some of the cart pushers to use this system.
“The PSP operators can buy some, engage cart pushers and put them on salary. We can now have a more efficient system for Lagos.”
Gbadegesin reaffirmed his agency’s commitment to maintaining a cleaner environment, urging residents to stop dumping refuse roads and in canals, warning that anyone caught disposing refuse in drainage channels and unauthorized places would contend with the provision of the state sanitation laws
He advised all residents to embrace waste separation, adding that “we must all stop throwing everything away and start sorting as it is done in advanced countries.”
“90 per cent of what you throw away has value. We must start sorting that waste, collecting it and giving it to those who are in need of it. Waste to wealth is the key to the survival of Lagos. When you go to Olusosun and Solous 3, you will see it,” he stressed.
Said he: “In Lagos we must move to a point where we ban landfill sites and that is what we are moving towards as a state government. We have commenced the process of decommissioning Olusosun and Soluos 3 within the next 18 months. We have already gone into two months out of that 18 months. Just give us an allowance for plus or minus. We are committed to decommissioning them.”
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