Femi Akinola
5 November 2009
Lagos — Due to the high risk attached to highway sweeping in Lagos, the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has advocated for safety of street sweepers as some among about 10,000 highway sweepers and cleaners in the state who were caught in a gun battle between the Police and armed robbers have been killed.
Since the initiative started in the state last year, five among the street and highway sweepers who are mostly women have been killed on duty while another 15 were run over by reckless drivers and sustained various degrees of injuries.
The Managing Director of the state Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Dr. Ola Oresanya disclosed this yesterday to newsmen at the ongoing three-day workshop with the theme: Safety of highway cleaners: responsibility of all at the State Secretariat auditorium, Alausa Ikeja.
According to him, two among the dead sweepers were killed by the stray bullets during crossfire between Police and armed robbers at Surulere in Surulere Local Council Development Area (LCDA) while another three were ran over and killed instantly by hit and run drivers at different points in the state.
The LAWMA boss stated that the fatal accidents were recorded at the initial conception of the street cleaning project in 2008 when the agency decided to extend the programme that was then a pilot scheme to the whole state.
While addressing participants at the workshop, Oresanya said: "We had lost five street sweepers to fatal accidents and 15 others sustained minor injuries at the beginning of the programme in 2008."
He said the incident made the state government and LAWMA to embark on measures that eventually prevented further loss of highway cleaners in the state, saying, "We then decided to introduce the bright and special uniform which has greatly reduced ugly incidences."
Lamenting the vulnerability of the highway cleaners, Oresanya explained that the state decided to put up the all-encompassing workshop where various stakeholders like: men of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), commercial motorcycles operators (Okada), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and operators of Private Sector Participation (PSP) scheme were invited to brainstorm on the safety of the street cleaners.
Noting that his authority has insurance for every sweeper in the state, he however expressed that there is nothing like staying alive to enjoy whatever effort injected into life saying, "aside the insurance, we also design conspicuous C-Caution and very bright uniform for our sweepers so that they could be noticed even from 1,000 metres distance."
Meanwhile, Oresanya explained that LAWMA has presently engaged 10,000 street sweepers who covers 274 kilometer stretch but needs 25,000 to cover the approximate 400 metres' state length.
Speaking in the same vein, Governor Babatunde Fashola through his Commissioner for environment, Dr. Muiz Banire pleaded with all and sundry to be lenient with streets sweepers whose service he said has improved the living and environmental awareness of all and sundry.
The governor said the state government took the initiative of employing the services of sweepers and highway managers to ensure the cleanliness of streets, highways, walkways and pedestrian bridges across Lagos. "The initiative ensures that all waste papers, trace material, sediment debris, pure water sachets and all materials that make our street look unkempt and dirty are kept and bagged before being loaded by trucks to dumpsites," he said.
However, Governor Fashola acknowledged that the nature of the job makes the sweepers the most vulnerable to road accidents noting that most of the sweepers have been put at the risk of physical incapacitation.
He said the workshop is an avenue to reappraise roles of stakeholders and help in implementation of various strategies that will be put in place and agreed upon at the end of the workshop.
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