Suleiman Mohammed
29 April 2007
Lagos — A study carried out by a group of environmentalists on the refuse situation in Lagos state has revealed that about 500,000 tones of garbage is generated daily in the state. The study indicates that 70 percent of the refuse generated is organic waste while between 30 and 40 percent does do not get to the five major dump sites provided by the state government.
The four major dump sites located at Alagbado, Agege, Olusosun, Iba village and another on the Lagos Island were aimed at reducing the many hours used in moving refuse to dump sites located on the outskirts of the city.
According to the report, which was presented to the state government, the high rate of refuse dump on Lagos roads was informed by the nonchalant attitude of residents coupled with the use of rickety vehicles with less capacity to evacuate the garbage.
The situation has made it mandatory for the state government to engage the services of private operators in the evacuation of refuse as well as the establishment of the state waste management agency (LAWMA).
general manager of the agency, Mr Ola Oresanya said there is plan to modernise the dump sites and encourage the use of compact trucks for refuse collection. "It is an offence for refuse trucks to move without covering the refuse. Sanctions for such offence include reduction in payment for a private refuse collector and reduction in salary for a LAWMA truck driver," he said.
According to him, the agency has been enforcing the rule and urged the public to report defaulters. He said the measure was to curb the spread of diseases in the city through illegal disposal of refuse.
Commenting on the waste to wealth project of the state government, the LAWMA boss said the project was in progress and is aimed at putting value to waste. The Lagos state government and a consortium of firms are jointly executing the project. They are to be sited in Ikorodu on the Mainland and Lagos Island.
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