Lagos State First Lady, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, has acknowledged persistent challenges with refuse evacuation across the state, saying the government is working on new strategies to improve waste management and reduce delays in clearing collected waste.
Sanwo-Olu spoke on Saturday while monitoring the monthly environmental sanitation exercise in Mafoluku, Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area, alongside the wife of the Deputy Governor, Mrs Oluremi Hamzat, Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment, Engr Olakunle Rotimi-Akodu, and members of the state’s Body of Permanent Secretaries.
The First Lady’s comments followed complaints from some residents that waste managers were not evacuating refuse from their neighbourhoods promptly.
She explained that one of the major challenges was the long turnaround time for waste trucks at disposal sites, which often results in delays before the trucks can return to collect more waste.
‘The turnaround time for the truck to evacuate their waste at the dumpsites takes quite a while. They can queue for like two to three days before they dump and depart from the landfill site,’ she said.
Sanwo-Olu said the state government was developing a new approach to waste disposal and management to address the situation.
‘I am aware that the state is working very hard to bring up a new strategy and approach to its present waste disposal and waste management strategies,’ she said.
She described the challenges as teething problems that would be addressed as the government improves the system, expressing optimism that Lagos would continue to make progress towards maintaining a cleaner environment.
The First Lady also urged residents to pay greater attention to waste separation at the point of generation, stressing that recyclable materials and other categories of waste should not be mixed.
She said the participation of schoolchildren in the monthly sanitation exercise was deliberate, aimed at developing environmental consciousness among them from an early age.
Also speaking, Rotimi-Akodu said the monthly sanitation exercise had recorded gradual improvement in public participation.
He said residents were increasingly coming out voluntarily to clean their homes and streets, describing the development as a departure from the situation when the exercise began.
‘Our first goal is awareness, which will bring about cultural change. We need to discard the whole culture of being lackadaisical towards our environment. People are beginning to pick up now, and for us, it’s a good measure of progress,’ he said.
The special adviser, however, urged residents to stop dumping refuse indiscriminately at unauthorised locations and embrace waste separation from the point of generation.
Meanwhile, the Head of Service, Mr Olabode Agoro, who led another monitoring team to Lagos Mainland Local Government, urged residents to take ownership of their surroundings and make environmental cleanliness a daily responsibility.
Agoro said the sanitation exercise, which had been ongoing for more than six months, was gradually attracting increased public participation.
He commended residents for their turnout but said more needed to be done, urging Lagosians to begin cleaning their surroundings before government monitoring officials arrive.
‘We are very impressed with the turnout, but it could be a lot better. It is not supposed to be that we call for the exercise before people come out to clean. By the time we arrive, residents should already have commenced cleaning their surroundings,’ he said.
Agoro also commended the chairman of Lagos Mainland Local Government for his advocacy and mobilisation efforts, which he said had contributed to improved participation in the exercise.
He said the mobilisation had helped bring more residents into the sanitation programme, although participation could still improve.
The Chairman of Lagos Mainland Local Government, Mayor Emilagba Kolawole, also commended residents who participated in the exercise, saying advocacy and sensitisation efforts were beginning to yield results.
Members of the Body of Permanent Secretaries, Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO), students and directors in the Ministry also participated in the monitoring exercise.