Lagos Declares ‘Small State Of Emergency’ On Waste Management  

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has declared a “small state of emergency” on waste management in Lagos State to address challenges with refuse collection and disposal.

The governor made the declaration on Wednesday during an inspection of the Olusosun dumpsite in Ojota, alongside his Deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, and the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab.

Sanwo-Olu said the inspection was to identify the immediate challenges facing waste management and develop short, medium and long-term solutions.

He noted that in the past few weeks, the state had experienced pressure on waste collection, leading to indiscriminate dumping of refuse in different parts of the metropolis.

“We are here for ourselves to see what the problem is and what is happening, so that we can clearly declare what we will call a small state of emergency.

This is necessary for us to get out of this very unpleasant situation and restore effective waste collection and disposal across Lagos,” he said.

The governor acknowledged that while monthly environmental sanitation and advocacy on proper waste management had been introduced, coordination needed to be improved.

Sanwo-Olu announced that the state government is working on two 2,400-metric-tonne transfer loading stations at Olusosun and Solu 3 in Alimosho.

The facilities will receive compacted waste before it is transferred to material recovery facilities being developed at Oke-Osho in Epe and Erikitte in Badagry.

“The two transfer loading stations should be able to receive about 500 trucks per day, while the material recovery sites will allow us to further sort and convert waste into other useful materials,” he said.

He said the projects are expected to begin taking shape before the end of the year, with completion targeted between the second quarter of next year and the first quarter.

To address immediate pressure, the governor said capacity at Olusosun would be increased from between 250-350 trucks daily to 350-450 trucks daily. This will be done by increasing tipping points at the dumpsite from 2-3 to about 4-5 to improve truck turnaround.

Similar interventions will be carried out at Solu 3, Iwulepe in Ikorodu, Oke-Osho in Epe, and Erikitte in Badagry.

“We are hoping that in another six weeks, we will have four active dump sites — Olusosun, Solu 3, Iwulepe and Oke-Osho — with a fifth one at Erikitte in Badagry.

What that will do is enhance and improve the turnaround of trucks on the various roads, so that they do not come to one dump site and spend 12 hours or even an entire day before they can discharge,” he said.

The state government has also procured 160 new compactor trucks to boost waste collection from homes and roads to disposal facilities. Additional trucks will be procured by Zoomlion, and landfill compactors will be acquired for disposal sites.

On Private Sector Participants (PSPs), Sanwo-Olu said the association had agreed to review its membership to identify operators with the capacity and technical know-how to continue providing services.

“We do not want to have 800 PSPs when only 400 are effective. We need to purge the system and create space for more investors and people who have the capacity to come in,” he said.

PSP operators have also committed to procuring additional compactor trucks. The government said it is open to working with them on financing models to support investments.

The governor urged residents to pay for waste management services.

“Lagosians, in particular, want service, but we do not want to pay for the service. I think this era has to stop.

It is unfair to see people rendering services and people are not paying them for the services they are rendering,” he said.

He assured that the government, in collaboration with PSP operators, will improve service delivery and urged households with waste bins to meet their financial obligations.

The inspection forms part of the state government’s renewed efforts to tackle waste collection, disposal and recycling challenges across Lagos.