As he reaffirmed the association’s commitment to better waste evacuation by Private Sector Participants (PSP) through robust government assistance to sustain their businesses, Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria (AWAMN) president David Oluwasegun Oriyomi emphasized to residents the need to be aware of waste management.
Oriyomi stated that despite evident difficulties, the PSP operators have a renewed dedication to their duty of keeping a clean environment in Lagos and that they would do everything it takes to complete their work.
Additionally, he pledged that PSP operators will continue to collaborate closely with LAWMA to fulfill their legal obligations to remove garbage produced by tenements in the state, while pleading with the public to ensure prompt payment of their waste fees.
He claimed that Lagos, once regarded as one of the dirtiest cities in the world, has improved over time and would continue to do so.
According to him, the functioning of PSP involves a large number of micro, small, and medium-sized businesses, creating employment for a large number of people.
The association’s secretary general, Taiye Kolade, also spoke, outlining some of the challenges faced by trash operators in the state.
He said “In Lagos, we find people living close to dump sites, which are not properly managed, resulting to a city with an increasingly terrible environmental degradation. The dump sites have, over time, become health hazards to residents.”
“Because of poor waste management awareness, residents dump waste indiscriminately into drainage channels, gutters and on the streets. The refuse then builds up to block drainage channels in residential areas and the residents suffer the implications.”
Olugbenga Adebola, a spokesperson for AWAMN, justified similar comments when he noted that there are many ways garbage that is produced may be recycled and turned into wealth.
“Management of solid waste is one of the major challenges. Inadequate collection, recycling or treatment and uncontrolled disposal of waste on dumps lead to severe hazards, such as health risks and environmental pollution.”
Adedayo Gbenga, an environmentalist and the owner of King Recycling Agency in Ikeja, Lagos, discussed the necessity for government involvement in waste recycling with this writer.
He said: “The recurring threat to proper waste management in Lagos is the lack of adequate facilities the best recommended strategy is for the government to invest more in recycling of refuse, electronics and plastic materials. However, one of the greatest barriers of recycling is the manufacturing industry. There are only a few recycling industries in Lagos, and they are mostly owned by private organisations.
“In a large city like Lagos, especially in the rural areas, recycling is almost unattainable, as the recycling points and collectors are mostly in the urban areas, and virtually in these rural communities. Material goods like plastics are sold and used within these rural areas, and most times they end in the gutters or burnt, causing further environmental and health hazards.”
