Heaps of refuse: LAWMA must wake up to its responsibility

The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), in collaboration with Private Sector Partnership (PSP), has the primary responsibility of disposing refuse to encourage clean, healthy and hygienic environment that will promote the life of the citizens.

The key service offered by PSP includes: Residential waste evacuation, market waste operations, medical waste management, construction and demolition waste service.

Unfortunately, citizens are taking ill and being hospitalised due to unhygienic environment as seen on the streets in the last couple of years.

Hospitals have their bin delayed before pickup and markets have hills and mountains of bins to be evacuated. Roads are littered with wastes; dead animals are lying in some public places with offensive odours. There are cases of inappropriate disposal of refuse.

The hazard of these is that it has affected the quality and life and cutting down the life span of citizens.  Some streets in Lagos have not seen the PSP operators to evacuate their bins in the last three months or more. This has made the state to be unclean, irritating and unconducive for living.

Recall, at the inception and introduction of PSP, it was their primary responsibility to move the bins of Lagosians at least twice a week which is minimum of eight (8) times in a month. But as time went on, they relapsed into once a week, later, once in two weeks. Regrettably, PSP now picks bins once in a month or in two months and in some places once in three months!

Compulsorily, Lagosians are compelled to pay monthly bills for the PSP despite their absence for several months. Regrettably, because the PSP has the backing of Lagos State Government, they do not respond to the plight of the people. They always give excuses for not doing the job they are paid for and are always eager to lock up houses that refuse to pay their bills due to their own fault that results to inappropriate disposal of refuse.

Citizens have repeatedly pleaded to these operators to improve their quality of service. But the PSP is fond of giving excuses such as, “the place of evacuation at Ikorodu is congested, our truck is faulty and it has gone for repairs all these complaints are their licence for failure and their ineffectiveness, inefficiency and disorganised way of disposing bins.

Today, Lagos State is littered with bins than ever in her history of development. There are many complaints arising from the attitude of the PSP operators, yet no response from the higher authorities. In some areas, the bins on the road are overflowing with refuse. These includes: Oshodi, Mushin, Oyingbo, Yaba, Akoka, Ikeja, Agege, Alimosho, Ojodu, Apapa, … just to mention a few.

I want to believe that the government is not putting round pegs in a round hole. Those assigned to keep Lagos clean do not understand the importance of a hygienic environment. Hence, the health architecture of the most populous state in Nigeria is in danger! Readers that live in Lagos are witnesses to this dirty environment that is almost an environmental nightmare; what the PSP operators may think is their best is not good enough!

Their lack of effectiveness is so obvious in Lagos and it reflects in lack of good compactor to evacuate the bins for the paying Lagosians.

Surprisingly, it seems the contract of the ineffective PSP vendors are not terminatable!

Ineffectiveness is being condoned by the state as it appears that room was not open for those who can come up with roadmap of keeping Lagos clean!

Opportunities are given to those who know somebody on the top or somebody that have influence and a political figure!

No doubt, every organisation faces different challenges and always comes up with strategies to overcome their challenges. I believe PSP will have their challenges as well, but coming up with a lasting solution must be prioritised.

They must find a case study of the cleanest state in the world, study their method of waste disposal and work towards having a very clean environment.

Lagos State can employ technology in incinerating the bin and discontinue with analog method of heaping up bins or burning as it used to do in Olusosun, Ojota dumping site.

Good waste disposal will aid productivity, and lead to the growth of Lagos economy, indirectly promote the wellbeing of Lagosians, and attract investors to invest in the state.

The question is, how long are we going to live with this menace? How long will the state pretend not to see the pain of the people- the diseases and infirmities that result therefrom.

We must be guided by the popular saying that “cleanliness is next to godliness.”

Why hoping that this piece will not just be seen or taken as one of those opinions, the state government should please, take a proactive measure toward addressing whatever may be the reason for the poor state of waste disposal, in the overall interest of all residents.

Ojurongbe is an Information Technology expert. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Azion Resources Limited, an innovating company which is into the business of ICT, Publication and Consultancy Services