…Two weeks after inauguration, Ambode’s sanitation officers yet to clean up Lagos
With growth driven by vital reforms in state service taxation, transport services and tourism, Lagos state remains the economic hub of Nigeria twenty five years after it was replaced as the country’s official capital.
This is why it was not surprising when Governor Akinwunmi Ambode presented the historic 2018 appropriation bill of N1,046 trillion to the state Assembly late last year. The budget had since been passed by the Assembly.
However, despite these enviable feats, what has remained a recurring challenge to successive administrations in the state is the effective management and disposal of wastes.
When Governor Ambode launched the Cleaner Lagos Initiative, CLI and new board of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) on Saturday, January 20, hopes were high that the state would once again return to its clean and hygienic status.
Recall that the governor had earlier in July 2017 launched the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) and the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC). While the CLI aims to take over from the Lagos Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) as the primary waste collector and disposal agency, LAGESC replaces the now defunct Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) who were hitherto saddled with the responsibilities of enforcing compliance to stipulated environmental rules and regulations.
Ambode at the event represented by his Special Adviser on Education, Mr Obafela Bank-Olemoh, said the new waste management policy of government encapsulated in the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) was designed to holistically address the challenges in the sector.
In his words: “Let me assure the people that in the coming weeks, there will be improvement. “We are already witnessing a high-level of improvement; we promise that throughout this week and throughout next week, people will see a marked improvement in our state as more equipment come into the country and we are able to deploy the equipment accordingly,” he said.
In a similar vein, the General Manager of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Mr. Segun Adeniji in a recent interview said the state was undergoing certain environmental reforms aimed at sanitizing it.
In his words: “Our waste management sector is currently undergoing a major reform. In March last year, a new bill was signed into law on the waste management sector, producing a single legislation that covers the entire environment sector in the state.
“That same law has made LAWMA a regulatory body, as against the time when LAWMA was only carrying out 90 per cent operations and 10 per cent regulations.
“From this year (2018) henceforth, all operations will be carried out by a competent body called Visionscape International, and the agency will handle all waste and refuse issues,” he said.
However, close observation by TheNewsGuru.com revealed that publicity on the reformation of the environmental laws embarked upon by the state government especially as it relates to the change of statutory functions of LAWMA is poor.
Findings by TheNewsGuru.com further revealed that residents are yet to know the functions of LAGESC while some still believes that LAWMA agents are responsible for picking up their wastes.
More so, a tour of some popular cities within the state by the TheNewsGuru.com team during the week confirmed the unhygienic status of the roads and streets that are almost turning into usual dumping sites.
Despite strong worded promises of visible changes in the state’s waste management policies in less than two weeks by the governor, investigations by the TheNewsGuru.com revealed that both LAGESC and operatives of Visionscape International were yet to make any remarkable impact in making the state clean, hygienic and safe for residents as heaps of refuse still adorn major roads, streets and houses.
At virtually all the twenty local government and thirty seven local development council areas (LCDAs), heaps of refuse waste littered streets and roads. The stench oozing from the refuse dump was indicative of how long it’s been begging for attention.
Some residents who couldn’t hide their disgust at the unhealthy developments across the state told the TheNewsGuru.com that the refuse dumps were already taking adverse effects on their health. Some even said they had to flee their homes when the stench was becoming unbearable.
As part of holistic approach to managing waste in the state, the Lagos State Government recently placed a ban on the activities of truck pushers in the state. To an extent, this has further heightened indiscriminate waste disposal and management as residents now have no alternative means of disposing their waste in cases where Visionscape officials do not show up to time.
Some residents who TheNewsGuru.com at Ikeja, Festac, Yaba and Ikotun said the poor waste management policies was becoming an issue of major concern because its health implication is dangerous. Some suggested that the Lagos State Government should relax the ban on the cart pushers to help cater for their wastes since the government has failed in that regard.
“Its now a common sight to see dirt everywhere in Lagos. I’m not sure this LAWMA people are still in operation anymore. The government should act before something silly happens to the residents,” a trader at the Yaba market told TheNewsGuru.com
A banker with one of the first generation bank said: “I hear LAWMA operatives are no longer in direct charge of picking up the dirt. That duty has now been assigned to another agency and LAWMA now supervises. However, I feel there should still be a sort of collaboration between LAWMA and the new agency to ensure effectiveness,” she said.
While the TheNewsGuru.com found some plastic waste bins provided by Visionscape and displayed at strategic locations around the metropolis, majority of these were overfilled and yet to be disposed by its officials.
In the past weeks, some local government chairmen were seen leading the campaign against indiscriminate waste disposal and also actively involved in the clearance. However, this barely had any effect as concentration was mainly on one out of several cases in their local governments. More So, close observation revealed that the dirt often resurfaces in just a matter of hours after clearance.
However, the health hazards of these refuse heaps all around the state should be a concern to all and sundry. While the government should brace up in its responsibility of keeping the state clean and safe, the residents too should avoid dumping refuse indiscriminate.
A medical doctor who spoke to TheNewsGuru.com on the impending dangers of the present environmental lapses in the state said: “We can’t avoid an outbreak of diseases if something drastic is not quickly done to clean up the dirt. Its not hygienic and anything that is not hygienic is dangerous to the health. I don’t want to scare people but we are not safe if this continue like this for a couple of weeks,” Dr. Chima said.
Efforts by the TheNewsGuru.com to reach the General Manager of LAWMA, Mr. Segun Adeniji and the Executive Secretary of LAGESC, Mrs Idowu Mohammed for comments was unsuccessful as at the time of filing this report.