Lagos Govt Acknowledges Its 'Bad' Waste Evacuation in Major Cities, Speaks on Next Action
- Lagos state government acknowledges waste evacuation issues and apologizes to residents for recent sanitation challenges
- Commissioner Wahab emphasizes a shift from linear to circular waste economy to address sustainability
- Investments in waste-to-energy projects aim to transform organic waste into valuable resources and enhance sanitation
The Lagos state government has acknowledged lapses in waste evacuation across major parts of the state, apologising to residents over the recent sanitation challenges caused by delayed refuse collection.
Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, admitted that waste management had faced serious difficulties in recent months, following complaints from residents over heaps of refuse on roads and drainage channels.
Source: Twitter
Speaking during an appearance on Arise TV’s The Morning Show, Wahab said the government recognised the problem and was already taking steps to address it.
“Let me start by apologising to Lagosians. The past three, four months have been very bad with respect to waste collection, but we didn’t just get there overnight.
“I won’t play the ostrich by not admitting we had a challenge. Are we fixing it? Yes," he said.
State plans waste management overhaul
The commissioner explained that Lagos could no longer rely on the traditional system of collecting waste and dumping it at landfill sites, noting that population growth had made the approach unsustainable, Punch reported.
“For decades, we had practised a linear waste system. We just pick waste and we dump. Olusosun and Solous were the outskirts of Lagos. We all went to build around them,” Wahab said.
He said the state was moving towards a circular waste economy where refuse would be converted into useful resources rather than simply discarded.
New investments to improve sanitation
Wahab revealed that the state was investing in waste-to-energy projects, including facilities designed to convert organic waste into energy, Vanguard reported.
He added that a larger waste-to-energy project capable of processing about 4,250 tonnes of waste daily was also being developed.
The development follows Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s directive for continuous waste evacuation across Lagos to clear affected areas and restore environmental cleanliness.
Lagos govt to reintroduce monthly sanitation
Previously, Legit.ng reported that the Lagos state government has announced plans to reintroduce monthly environmental sanitation exercises as part of renewed efforts to improve cleanliness and waste management across the state.
The managingdirector and chief executive officer of the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA), Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, disclosed this while speaking with journalists on Wednesday, December 17, according to the agency.
Source: Legit.ng
