The Lagos State Government says it will deploy 220 newly acquired compactor trucks to strengthen waste evacuation and improve environmental management across the state.
Deputy Governor, Dr Kadri Hamzat, disclosed this on Saturday during the monthly environmental sanitation exercise in Festac, Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos.
Hamzat said the additional trucks would complement the operations of Private Sector Participation (PSP) operators and expand the state’s capacity to evacuate refuse, particularly from areas where existing arrangements were struggling to meet demand.
“The state government will be bringing in another 220 trucks to make sure that we supplement our PSP,” he said.
He explained that the decision was necessitated by the increasing volume of waste generated in the state as a result of its rapidly expanding population.
According to him, the continuous influx of people into Lagos has placed additional pressure on existing waste management infrastructure and services.
“A lot of people are coming to Lagos, and therefore they generate waste. So part of what you can see that we are doing is that we are getting many more trucks to actually go and evacuate,” Hamzat said.
The deputy governor urged residents to patronise accredited PSP operators rather than cart pushers, who, according to him, often operate outside the regulated waste management system.
“What we need our people to also do is to make sure that they patronise their PSP, not the cart pushers, because they are not organised.
You don’t know where the waste is ending up,” he said.
Hamzat said residents had an important role to play in ensuring the success of the state’s waste management initiatives, stressing that government investment alone could not solve the problem.
He warned against indiscriminate disposal of refuse in canals, drainage channels and other waterways, noting that blocked drainage systems could restrict the free flow of stormwater and worsen flooding during heavy rainfall.
The deputy governor called on residents to sustain environmental sanitation beyond the monthly exercise and make the cleanliness of their homes and communities a routine responsibility.
“We cannot be a people without a healthy environment. It doesn’t matter what we do, a cleaner environment is what makes a city or a state sustainable,” Hamzat said.
He commended residents of Festac and the Amuwo-Odofin area for participating in the sanitation exercise, saying community involvement was critical to achieving a cleaner and healthier Lagos.
Hamzat also addressed environmental management concerns in Festac, noting that the Federal Housing Authority had specific responsibilities in the area but stressing that residents and property managers remained subject to the environmental regulations of the Lagos State Government.
Also speaking, Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, said the state was recording improvements in waste evacuation following the deployment of 24-hour emergency response teams.
Wahab said the teams had helped to respond to areas experiencing challenges in waste evacuation, while the government had also intervened to address operational challenges at landfills and dumpsites.
He said the government was engaging PSP operators to improve their performance and ensure more efficient collection of household waste across the state.
The commissioner explained that the state had also intervened in areas where the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) would ordinarily not operate, as part of efforts to close gaps in waste evacuation.
According to him, the intervention is aimed at ensuring that waste does not accumulate in communities because of gaps in the regular collection arrangements.
Wahab said the government was supporting PSP operators to strengthen their operations, while residents were expected to pay for waste collection services in accordance with the polluter-pays principle.
He explained that the arrangement was intended to provide operators with the resources required to deliver effective services while ensuring that residents received value for the payments made.
The commissioner said the state was also moving away from the conventional linear waste management model of “collect and dump” to a circular economy approach that prioritised waste recovery, recycling and conversion of waste into useful resources.
He disclosed that the transition had resulted in the development of material recovery facilities in Badagry and Epe, as well as transfer stations at Solus and Olusosun.
Wahab said the facilities would contribute to improving waste processing and reducing the volume of refuse ultimately taken to landfills.
On the activities of cart pushers, he said the government was engaging with them but would not adopt policies that could create additional environmental or security risks.
He said investigations had shown that some cart pushers dumped collected waste indiscriminately, including in drainage channels and road medians.
According to him, such practices contribute to environmental degradation, block drainage infrastructure and increase the risk of flooding.
Wahab said the government’s broader objective was to establish an organised, efficient and sustainable waste management system in which residents, operators and government agencies would have clearly defined responsibilities.
Meanwhile, the Head of Service, Mr Bode Agoro, monitored the sanitation exercise in Bariga Local Council Development Area (LCDA), alongside other Permanent Secretaries, including the Permanent Secretary, Office of Environmental Services, Mr Omobolaji Gaji.
The officials inspected Ewenla, Adetoke and Emmanuel Church streets, through Omobokun to New Garage, as part of efforts to assess compliance and encourage residents to maintain clean surroundings.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Public Service Office, Mr Sunkanmi Oyegbola, Agoro expressed concern over the attitude of some residents toward environmental cleanliness.
He urged Lagosians to take ownership of their immediate environment and complement government’s efforts by keeping their homes, streets and communities clean.
Agoro stressed that environmental cleanliness should not be left entirely to government, noting that residents had a responsibility to protect and maintain their surroundings.
He said residents must also protect public infrastructure and other facilities provided by the government to support the development of Lagos.
The Head of Service added that government would continue to provide infrastructure and other facilities, but residents were expected to reciprocate by maintaining them and ensuring that their communities remained clean and orderly.
