Lagos boosts waste management, assembles trucks, bins locally for LAWMA
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The Lagos State government has ramped up its drive to make the state cleaner by giving a boost to its waste management with the local assembly of trucks and bins used for collection and disposal of waste in the state.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu has already launched for use 102 of the locally assembled trucks and 100 dino bins which are to be deployed by the state-owned Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) for effective waste management across the state.
Governor Sanwo-Olu said at the unveiling of the trucks and bins that the project is part of his administration’s commitment towards attaining a cleaner Lagos through the implementation of an effective waste management strategy.
Lagos, Nigeria’s financial and business capital and unarguably amongst Africa’s 10 largest economies, generates a huge amount of waste, requiring a sizable number of trucks and bins to deal with.
Ibrahim Odumboni, managing director and chief executive officer, LAWMA, said the volume of wastes generated in the state is very huge, requiring mobile waste management trucks in good working condition for effective management. He, therefore, commended the governor for his services towards waste management and pledged that the new trucks would be distributed to cover major areas in the state.
Odumboni explained that waste management is a big sector in Lagos, rated as one of the world’s fastest-growing megacities, as residents generate an estimated 13,000 metric tonnes of waste daily. He stated that 6,000 people have been employed in the sector and the government has also partnered with many Private Sector Participators (PSPs) who operate with about 550 trucks in their fleet.
The LAWMA boss further disclosed that the state government is making efforts towards the rehabilitation of all dumpsites in the state and conversion of waste to energy in the near future.
“We have a mandate from the commissioner for the environment and water resources to deliver and we understand the peculiarity of Lagos, so we want to ensure that things are done properly,” he noted.
Commenting on the interest of investors in the waste management sector, the LAWMA boss said the PSPs have about 457 operators. He added that LAWMA is working towards bringing more investors into the waste management cycle.