Cleaner Lagos Initiative: Commissioner allays fears of PSP operators

Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, has allayed fears of the association of Private Sector Participants (PSP)in waste management in the state, assuring them that the safety and well being of the people of Lagos is a top priority of the Akinwunmi  Ambode led government.

According to him, the state will not do anything that is not in the collective interest of the people of the state.

The Commissioner stated this while responding to claims by the association of PSP waste operators that the state government is planning to displace them, or replace them with new operators in the new Clean Lagos Initiative.

This is coming on the back of media reports that the operators instituted a suit against some ministries and agencies within the state government, urging the court to uphold and protect their existing rights.

Adejare said, “We are all cognizant of the numerous challenges that have plagued our state sanitation system in the state, and the call for an urgent and intelligent solution to the perennial problem, which have not only had destructive impact on our environment, health and lives. To address this, our administration took a decision and determined efforts towards water, sanitation and hygiene in the state”.

“To activate this in a manner that protects and guarantees the rights of the people, we started the Cleaner Lagos Initiative with a Stakeholder Engagement Programme. Over the last 10 months, we have taken a holistic approach to identifying the unique problems, and have focused on creating a framework for a sustainable integrated waste management system”.

“We sought and obtained executive council approval to carry out a full review in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice.  We put the existing laws and policies under a microscope, reviewed them to reflect that sanitation becomes a high-priority activity in the state and is treated as a non-negotiable requisite in Lagos”.

“Consequently, we came up with strategies for regulation, enforcement and most importantly financing, to support the Cleaner Lagos Initiative, which was birthed from the results of this process”.

The Cleaner Lagos Initiative was created as an extensive and sustainable waste management system for Lagos to maximize the state’s potential in solid waste management with recycling, recovery and waste reduction efforts, liquid waste management, drainage management, and waste water treatment.

The initiative also seeks to fully develop sufficient infrastructure for collection, proper processing and disposal of all waste to meet the state’s environmental objectives.

The first phase of the initiative, tackles solid waste management, which is in a clear state of crisis due to the moribund supporting infrastructure that must be beefed up- bin placement, transfer loading stations, material recovery facilities and of course landfills.  The current arrangement is highly cumbersome, and LAWMA in its role as a regulator is expected to coordinate the activities of 350 individual companies and still carry out its own collection services. Revenue generation is extremely difficult because of the complication that arose from the billing system, occasioned by the disparity and discrepancy in charges and waste collection routes.