The Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare has stated that the on-going reforms in the solid waste management in Lagos State, tagged “The Cleaner Lagos Initiative” is in the interest of Lagosians as it is one of the best ways to sustain the environment.
Adejare, who made the remark at the February edition of the monthly Press Briefing of the Ministry, stated that the implication of the reforms was that residential waste collection process would be concessioned to investors who would deploy modern equipment and machinery equipped with GIS facilities.
He said further that the Cleaner Lagos Initiative would protect the environment, human health and living standards of Lagos residents by promoting a harmonized and holistic approach to environmental challenges and ensuring improved operational efficiency.
The reforms, he added, will also address the lacunae in the existing legislation and expand the scope of LAWMA to enable it enforce, regulate and generate revenue from the waste management process and put in place a proactive Flood Prevention Strategy (FPS) that will ensure all-year- round drainage maintenance.
He also noted that the Cleaner Lagos Initiative would involve the development of new and rehabilitation of old facilities, such as Engineered Landfill Sites (Epe I & II and Badagry), Transfer Loading Stations (Agege, Oshodi and Simpson), Material Recovery with recycling, recovery and waste reduction efforts.
On the benefits of the reform, the Commissioner pointed out that the initiative would create 27,500 new jobs by engaging the unemployed youth and the existing 4,500 street sweepers and transforming them to Community Sanitation Workers (CSW) to carry out manual sweeping in all the inner streets in the 377 wards of the State.
“The Community Sanitation Workers will be uniformly kitted, insured, paid above the minimum wage and equipped to tackle the challenges of their newly defined scope of work”, he said.
He stressed that the State Government was determined to give to Lagosians a sustainable and functional environment which they would be proud of since environment remained the bedrock upon which development and prosperity rest.
