TheCable

The Lagos state government says the collaboration between private sector participants (PSP) operators and Visionscape Sanitation will lead to the removal of heaps of refuse from the streets in a few days.

The state’s ministry of environment recently reached an agreement for PSP operators to return as waste collectors while Visionscape Sanitation will oversee waste management infrastructural reforms.

Speaking on the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI), Adebola Shabi, special adviser to governor Akinwunmi Ambode, in a statement said: “We have been engaging different stakeholders, the waste collection operators, the community development committees, the market women, the civil societies, landlords and tenants’ associations and various NGOs in the state to assess how we have performed in the last one year.

“There are still ongoing discussions with the waste collection operators, the former PSP operators and the state government, in conjunction with Visionscape to have as many Transfer Loading Stations, to ease the disposal of waste in the state.

“Olusosun dumpsite has been shut down by His Excellency because of the safety of the people working there and public health. And we have been asking the trucks to be going down to Ewe Elepe and Epe and we are looking at the distance, as most of the waste collectors’ trucks cannot go far distance.”

Shabi said 60 percent of waste generated in Lagos will end up at the Epe landfill while the remaining 40 percent will be recycled.

Visionscape Sanitation, Shabi said, has distributed over eight million garbage bags and over 400,000 garbage bins in the last two months.

Shabi said plastic collection centres will be established in 57 council areas of the state.

“In the next few months, Visionscape will take stock of more trucks to enhance performance in waste collection,” he said.

“What we want from people living in Lagos is to generate your waste, bag your waste and drop them in front of the houses, for effective cleaning and preventive blockage of our drainages and canals.

“The garbage bags and bins are meant for the waste generated, so please ensure that the wastes are being packaged and kept at the front of the houses.

“The theme of the World Earth Day this year is plastic pollution, and that is one of the biggest menace in the state today.

“So, we are going to have 57 collection centres in the state, we are going to encourage youths to bring plastic to the centres and you are given something in return. Then the plastics will be sold to the public for reuse.”