The Lagos State Government is set to deploy more than 200 new compactor trucks as part of efforts to improve waste collection and management across the state.
Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, disclosed this on Saturday while monitoring the August monthly environmental sanitation exercise in Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area alongside his wife, Oluremi, and other state government officials.
Speaking to journalists at Festac Town after participating in the cleanup exercise, Hamzat urged residents to stop patronising unregistered cart pushers and instead dispose of their waste through approved Private Sector Participation (PSP) waste operators.
He said the use of registered PSP operators would help ensure that waste is properly transported to designated landfills rather than being dumped indiscriminately.
“What we need our people to also do is to make sure that they patronise their PSP, not the cart pushers.
Because those are not organised. You don’t know where it’s ending up, okay?
But the PSP will take it to the landfills.
The cart pushers, we don’t know. It might even be in the canals.”
The Deputy Governor added that residents have an important role to play in preventing waste from ending up in drainage channels and contributing to flooding.
“And that’s the encouragement that we’re giving our citizens to make sure that you play your role, to make sure that that garbage doesn’t end up in a canal and therefore lead to flooding.”
Hamzat said the monthly environmental sanitation exercise was designed to promote a culture of environmental responsibility among residents, stressing that a healthy environment is essential to the wellbeing of the people.
“We cannot be a people without a healthy environment,” he said.
Government Steps Up Efforts on Waste Management
Also speaking during the exercise, the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said the government was taking steps to address waste accumulation on road medians and improve the overall waste management system.
Wahab, who was accompanied by the Special Adviser on the Environment, Engr. Kunle Rotimi-Akodu, said the situation was improving, noting that the ministry had established emergency teams operating around the clock.
He added that the government was also working on measures to improve conditions at landfills and dumpsites across the state.
According to him, the ministry would continue to engage PSP waste operators and intervene where necessary to improve service delivery.
Wahab expressed optimism that better waste collection services would encourage more residents to pay their waste bills and, in turn, help sustain the operations of PSP waste managers.
Lagos Warns Against Indiscriminate Waste Disposal
On efforts to curb the activities of cart pushers, Wahab said the government was engaging with them but warned against adopting measures that could create bigger problems in the future.
He said indiscriminate disposal of waste by cart pushers often resulted in refuse being dumped in drainage channels, road medians and other unauthorised locations.
“But we don’t want to say because we’re in a situation, we take steps that will come to harm us later in life. Most of these cart pushers, ask yourself, where is that waste usually dumped? Drainage, medians, and so on.”
The commissioner also cited security concerns, saying investigations had linked some cart pushers to gangs allegedly involved in metal theft and other criminal activities.
“In addition to that, security findings have also shown that most of them are also part of those gangs that are involved in cutting metals and doing all sorts. We can’t go that route.”
Head of Service Urges Residents to Make Cleanliness a Daily Habit
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Head of Service, Mr. Olabode Agoro, led another team of government officials to Bariga LCDA to monitor the sanitation exercise.
Agoro, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Public Service Office, Mrs. Sunkanmi Oyegbola, urged residents to take greater responsibility for maintaining clean surroundings.
He warned that individuals and establishments that violate environmental laws would face appropriate sanctions.
According to him, the government cannot achieve a cleaner and healthier Lagos without the active participation and cooperation of residents.
He explained that government officials were taking part in the sanitation exercise to lead by example and encourage residents to see environmental cleanliness as a collective responsibility.
The Head of Service also urged residents not to wait until the last Saturday of the month before cleaning their surroundings, but to make environmental sanitation an everyday practice.
