Sections
Poll: Power pledge
Is Mr. President's promise of additional 6,000 MW of electricity in 18 months achievable?
How Lagos plans to tackle waste management problems
Font size:
Refuse collectors at work
With an estimated population of 18 million people and the highest concentration of industries in the West African sub-region, Lagos State is an environmental story that challenges residents and government of the state alike.
Besides flooding which is a seasonal problem of the state, noise, effluent discharges, air and water pollution also constitute a major problem to the state. But none of these gives the state greater headache than the management of the enormous wastes which are generated on daily basis.
Speaking at an interactive programme on the agenda of his government for the state in 2008, Governor Babatunde Fashola disclosed that Lagos generates, on daily basis, over 9000 metric tonnes of solid waste.
For a state aspiring to achieve a mega-city status and at the same time hoping to be the third largest city in the world by the year 2015, the present state of affairs and its possible environmental impact are more than enough cause for concern.
This, perhaps, explains the great emphasis by the state commissioner for environment, Muiz Banire, on solid waste management at a media conference recently where he x-rayed the plan of his ministry for the Lagos environment in 2008.
“One of the foremost challenges confronting the state as an emerging mega city is the perfection of the Private Sector Participation in waste management. Presently, we are all aware of the various challenges of our operators which range from the use of rickety vehicles, capacity building, inadequate funding/sponsorship to access to credit facilities from banks”, he said.
Banire noted that in developed nations of the world, waste collection and disposal was mostly done by private investors, which was the direction the Fashola administration was going.
In the face of these challenges, the commissioner said his ministry was determined to see an end to it all, hence the mandate to all PSP operators to re-fleet their vehicles and also improve their services to those who patronise them.
He warned that such operators who still made use of open trucks to cart away refuse had up to the end of this month to convert to the use of waste compactors or close shop.
In its greater plan for waste management, Banire disclosed that the ministry’s waste management agency, LAWMA (Lagos State Waste Management Authority), has introduced a franchising system for effective waste management with the hope that it would improve waste collection and disposal.
He disclosed that 100 new refuse trucks would be procured to manage the new refuse containers introduced on major highways in the state, adding that, the trucks would be supported by 40 used trucks which would be delivered in the next one month.
Other measures adopted by the ministry through LAWMA to tackle the waste management challenge, he said, included the transfer of ownership of trucks to PSP operators on concession arrangement and investment recovery; creating the enabling environment for PSP operators to introduce 200 trucks into the sector and the provision of bank guarantee for potential investors in the state’s waste management sector.
In a veiled reference to the success of the PSP initiative of the ministry, Banire noted that the state landfill sites at Olushosun, Abule-Egba and Soulus recorded a daily average of 6,000 metric tonnes of wastes, pointing out that the volume of waste received at the sites was evident of the improvement in the PSP operations.
He announced that contract for the rehabilitation of the three sites had been awarded by the state government while the World Bank has also shown much commitment to the rehabilitation of Olushosun dumpsite alone.
“While development of an 80-hectare landfill site was going on at Epe, LAWMA is intensifying negotiation with the Lagos Mega City Project on the construction of landfill sites at Ibafo, Ota and Igbesa, just as construction work has commenced for the installation of pollution prevention equipment for all dumpsites in the state”, he disclosed.
On the management of transfer loading stations, the commissioner said contract for the construction of six such stations at Ogombo, Simpson, Yaba mechanic village, Ishasi and Suberu Oje, had been awarded by the state government while the World Bank has also shown commitment for the development of another four stations at Oba-Ogunji, Marina, Abule-Egba and Owutu.
According to him, “LAWMA is expected to provide technical expertise for the management of these stations through accredited facility management contractors. The stations are expected to bridge the gap between waste collection and disposal, by reducing the turn-around time and mitigate traffic problem for maximum efficiency at a reduced operational cost”.
Speaking at an interactive programme on the agenda of his government for the state in 2008, Governor Babatunde Fashola disclosed that Lagos generates, on daily basis, over 9000 metric tonnes of solid waste.
For a state aspiring to achieve a mega-city status and at the same time hoping to be the third largest city in the world by the year 2015, the present state of affairs and its possible environmental impact are more than enough cause for concern.
This, perhaps, explains the great emphasis by the state commissioner for environment, Muiz Banire, on solid waste management at a media conference recently where he x-rayed the plan of his ministry for the Lagos environment in 2008.
“One of the foremost challenges confronting the state as an emerging mega city is the perfection of the Private Sector Participation in waste management. Presently, we are all aware of the various challenges of our operators which range from the use of rickety vehicles, capacity building, inadequate funding/sponsorship to access to credit facilities from banks”, he said.
Banire noted that in developed nations of the world, waste collection and disposal was mostly done by private investors, which was the direction the Fashola administration was going.
In the face of these challenges, the commissioner said his ministry was determined to see an end to it all, hence the mandate to all PSP operators to re-fleet their vehicles and also improve their services to those who patronise them.
He warned that such operators who still made use of open trucks to cart away refuse had up to the end of this month to convert to the use of waste compactors or close shop.
In its greater plan for waste management, Banire disclosed that the ministry’s waste management agency, LAWMA (Lagos State Waste Management Authority), has introduced a franchising system for effective waste management with the hope that it would improve waste collection and disposal.
He disclosed that 100 new refuse trucks would be procured to manage the new refuse containers introduced on major highways in the state, adding that, the trucks would be supported by 40 used trucks which would be delivered in the next one month.
Other measures adopted by the ministry through LAWMA to tackle the waste management challenge, he said, included the transfer of ownership of trucks to PSP operators on concession arrangement and investment recovery; creating the enabling environment for PSP operators to introduce 200 trucks into the sector and the provision of bank guarantee for potential investors in the state’s waste management sector.
In a veiled reference to the success of the PSP initiative of the ministry, Banire noted that the state landfill sites at Olushosun, Abule-Egba and Soulus recorded a daily average of 6,000 metric tonnes of wastes, pointing out that the volume of waste received at the sites was evident of the improvement in the PSP operations.
He announced that contract for the rehabilitation of the three sites had been awarded by the state government while the World Bank has also shown much commitment to the rehabilitation of Olushosun dumpsite alone.
“While development of an 80-hectare landfill site was going on at Epe, LAWMA is intensifying negotiation with the Lagos Mega City Project on the construction of landfill sites at Ibafo, Ota and Igbesa, just as construction work has commenced for the installation of pollution prevention equipment for all dumpsites in the state”, he disclosed.
On the management of transfer loading stations, the commissioner said contract for the construction of six such stations at Ogombo, Simpson, Yaba mechanic village, Ishasi and Suberu Oje, had been awarded by the state government while the World Bank has also shown commitment for the development of another four stations at Oba-Ogunji, Marina, Abule-Egba and Owutu.
According to him, “LAWMA is expected to provide technical expertise for the management of these stations through accredited facility management contractors. The stations are expected to bridge the gap between waste collection and disposal, by reducing the turn-around time and mitigate traffic problem for maximum efficiency at a reduced operational cost”.
Add to:
del.icio.us |
Digg
del.icio.us |
Digg
Email to a friend
Print version
Plain textRate this article
Comments ( posted):
Post your comment