As the mega-city of Lagos grapples with its waste disposal challenges, TUNDE ALAO reports that it may require a miracle to achieve the desired solution.
If there is any social concern today that has remained nagging in Lagos state, it is the issue of refuse management. It has never been so critical than the present time despite efforts by the current administration at taming the menace.
Before the return of civil rule in 1999, when the Alliance for Democracy produced Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the governor of the state, the Lagos wore the sobriquet of the “dirtiest capital city in the world.”
When Tinubu came, his government’s first and most pressing agenda was how to get rid of mountains of refuse that dotted the highways and major streets across the metropolis. The appointment of Mr Ola Oresanya to the headship of the then comatose Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), observers said, turned things around at the agency.
LAWMA a broken dream?
Incidentally, LAWMA is reputed to be the first waste management outfit in West Africa. It started as Lagos State Refuse Disposal Board (LSRDB) in Nigeria, under Edict 9 of 1977. In 1981, its name was changed to Lagos State Waste Disposal Board (LSWDB) because of the added responsibilities of industrial-commercial waste collection and disposal, drain clearing and disposal of derelict/scrapped vehicles.
In December 1991, its current name, the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) was adopted under Edict No. 55, which made the agency to be responsible for the collection and disposal of municipal and industrial waste.
Its Charter was actually crafted with intention of achieving lasting partnership with the Lagos public. This planned partnership was meant to be an initiative for transforming the waste management and related sectors in Lagos State. But the story is different today.
The Charter is also expected to improve awareness among the stakeholders of the availability and quality of the service that it offers. Its vision, as stated in the charter, is to provide unprecedented efficient waste management services to all its domestic, industrial and commercial clients, government inclusive. The question now is: how far has the agency truly gone in achieving its mandate?
Fashola’s magic wand?
From the Tinubu era to the immediate past administration headed by Mr Babatunde Fashola, the issue of waste management appeared to have been permanently dealt with. Indeed, it would be strange to witness heaps of refuse on the highways, and the tradition was initially held on to by the current administration of Mr Akinwunmi Ambode.
However, with the belief that managing the waste can be more effective, more result-oriented, Ambode’s administration decided to refocus the structure and introduced the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI).
One of the reasons adduced for the initiative was that with the population of Lagos growing by the day, and the increase in waste being generated also on a daily basis, the status quo must be altered.
“The initiative is geared towards addressing, enforcing and regulating the challenges in the solid waste (gaseous, industrial, construction waste) management systems within Lagos State, while also aiming to protect the environment, human health and social living standards of Lagos State residents,” Special Adviser to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on CLI, Mr Adebola Shabi, explained to Saturday Tribune.
He also said Cleaner Lagos Initiative provides new funding to hire and train 27,500 Community Sanitation Workers (CSW) who will be evenly distributed within the 377 wards in the state. This means more boots on the ground to do timely clean-ups in the neighbourhoods where they are needed most.
Besides, it was reasoned that there are more scientific ways of managing waste, therefore, the involvement of Visionscape, an international waste management outfit.
“But since the introduction of CLI, waste management has witnessed one crisis or the other, thus, threatening the good intention of Governor Ambode in getting rid of refuse on the Lagos highways,” said a senior civil servant, who declined to be named.
Waste, waste everywhere
The clearest signal that CLI is seriously challenged has manifested in the past few weeks as rain now falls more frequently than in previous months and with the heaps of refuse re-appearing on the highways and streets, on a daily basis and in their quantity, anxiety is mounting among the residents.
Examples are the Obalende end of Third Mainland bridge, on both sides; Tinubu Street in Ilupeju, close to popular Ilupeju Estate, Sandgrouse, in Ebute-Elefun, all on Lagos Island, among others
Similarly, there is refuse almost everywhere in Ifako-Ijaiye, Alimosho and Agege council areas. There is refuse on the streets, along the roads and major highways, in marketplaces, as well as on the pedestrian bridges.
This situation is more pronounced on both sides of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway from Abule-Egba axis down to Tollgate in Sango, Ogun State. The road median now serves as refuse dumps for residents in some communities in the three local government areas. The case of Meiran, Iyana-Ipaja, Ile-Iwe, Ekoro, Agunbiade, Moshalasi, Ishaga, Agbado-Ijaiye, Alaguntan and a host of others is a typical example in this regard.
Markets are not exempted from this challenge. Heaps of refuse dot most of them. The popular Ile-Epo Market at Oke-Ado in Abule Egba is an ugly example, while the big dump site near the market, which though also constitutes a serious challenge, could pass for now, considering the major crisis at hand, the heaps on the road median where traders, including meat sellers, display their wares, should worry all stakeholders.
Domestic waste: How profitable?
However, despite the lull in the waste management and its attendant public health challenges, domestic waste, which is reputed to be more lucrative and which has been the bone of contention among the waste managers, is receiving better attention, findings revealed.
Refuse is regularly attended to in the low-density areas like Magodo, Suru-Lere, Ikeja GRA, Ikoyi and Victoria Island, just to mention a few.
“But the reverse is the case in the high-density neighbourhoods, where access roads are in a state of dereliction and where monthly bills by the waste managers are difficult to offset,” said one of PSP members, who also spoke to Saturday Tribune on the condition of anonymity.
“In our estate, we pay N500 per apartment every month, regardless of volume of refuse one generates and the bills do come even before the month ends. But what gladdens one’s heart is the prompt attention by the waste managers,” said a resident at Omole Estate, Ojodu, Mr Disu Ayeni, who observed that it appeared that the PSP operators preferred domestic waste to the industrial or medical waste.
Corroborating Ayeni’s view, a female PSP operator, whose jurisdiction of engagement is Ikeja GRA, said the key reason for the preference for domestic waste over the medical, especially within housing estates, was its financial advantage.
“Why we prefer domestic waste is because it is more lucrative, especially, within the (housing) estates. Hardly would you see waste, stay longer than necessary, because every one of these estates, has, PSP operators attached to it, unlike thickly populated neighbourhoods where refuse are dumping on public places. It is like sheep without shepherd. Which house is to be held for such refuse? It is government that offsets the bill, which may not receive immediate attention. One should also bear in mind that we have huge overheads to pay, including the maintenance of our vehicles,” she said.
Who will save Ambode’s dream?
In the bid to overhaul the existing solid waste management process, Ambode’s administration, in December 2016, unveiled the “Cleaner Lagos Initiative” which, state officials claimed, was informed by numerous flaws in the structure as well as dynamics of the existing system.
But over a year on, the dream initiative appears to be tottering as mountains of refuse littering the streets are the reality of the journey so far.
The main question on the lips of the residents of the state is: what exactly is responsible for the resurgence of refuse across the landscape when a more scientific approach was adopted? Many answers with minimal empirical back-up are in the air. At a point, government alleged sabotage. Others have alluded to the politics surrounding the coming of Visionscape. The kite of alleged corruption had also been flown as well as alleged incompetence on the part of certain stakeholders, alleged lack of capacity on the part of Visionscape and residents’ alleged lackadaisical attitude to proper waste disposal.
If there were residents nursing the hope of a quicker resolution of whatever the problem(s) might be, the statement of the state’s number three citizen, the speaker of the House of Assembly, Honourable Mudashiru Obasa, that Visionscape, the coordinating firm of the CLI policy, was a ghost firm not known to the state government, must have jolted them into the reality of the extent of the mess around waste management in the state.
Conference 57 intervention
For sure, politics is deeply at the heart of waste management in Lagos State and after the Obasa outburst, residents are not likely to be shocked, seeing political imprints all over what should have been a professional call.
It will be recalled that in February 2018, 57 chairmen of local government and local council development areas (LCDAs) in the state, in one of their meetings, attributed the uncleared waste in some parts of the state to the transition period in relation to the effective implementation of a new waste management policy by the authorities.
Rising from an emergency meeting on that Tuesday, they focused on the resurgence of refuse on major highways and road medians across the metropolis with the chairmen expressing optimism in the effectiveness of the new policy (CLI) to bring about what they saw as “a comprehensive and world class waste management system,” just as they urged residents to cooperate with government during the transition period.
The council chiefs, who met under the auspices of Conference 57, their umbrella body, commended Governor Ambode for his vision to improve the cleanliness of the environment through a total sanitation solution and engagement of environmental utility group, Visionscape Sanitation Solutions, to implement the new waste policy.
In a communique released at the end of the meeting by the group’s chairman, Omolara Essien, the council chiefs said: “We appreciate the enormous difficulties and the challenging logistics which the establishment of a new agency to collect waste for 22 million residents would present to any government in any circumstances. Therefore, the current presence of uncleared waste is a result of the transition from an old system that was considered not efficient enough to a new system which effectiveness has also been recorded in many places.”
Visionscape as scapegoat?
Visionscape may have come highly recommended and regarded but the Lagos project is, without doubt, challenging its credibility.
The controversy surrounding the coming of the firm is yet to be settled among the power brokers of the state politics and its operations have been anything but smooth, despite the huge media PR thrown around the brand.
Perhaps one major mistake the promoters of the firm made is the initial insistence that those who were managing waste in the state, known as PSP operators, should completely give way to the foreign firm.
Lekan Owojori, spokesperson for a factional PSP group, described the current working arrangement between the foreign and local firms as “making landlords (PSP operators) to become tenants.”
Many stakeholders hold that with the mistrust and bad-blood between Visionscape and PSP operators, effective collaboration, would be a mirage.
Following various peace interventions, Visionscape and PSP agreed to collaborate on the CLI project, but the terms do not seem acceptable to a party.
At the peak of the crisis a few months ago, Visionscape, in a statement released by its management, stated that the new arrangement placed Waste Collector Operators as the residential waste collectors, while Visionscape serves as the central processing hub of municipal solid waste within the state, to develop and maintain all infrastructure put in place to deliver an effective integrated waste management system for the residents.
In the statement entitled: “Visionscape and PSP operators to work together; PSPs to Focus on Collection While Visionscape Focuses on Landfills, TLSs and Depots,” the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr John Irvine, stated that, “Under the new arrangement, the PSP operators, now referred to as Waste Collector Operators have agreed to resume residential waste collection, where they will bill and service homes across the state, while Visionscape primary concern would be infrastructure development.
“This resolution also became urgent as the government and other stakeholders are determined to avoid similar environmental disasters as the Olusosun fire.”
Speaking on the development, Governor Ambode’s aide, Shabi, said, “We believe that small businessmen are true engine of economic growth and should be encouraged at all levels, which is what this partnership is all about. Beyond the CLI goals of fostering a cleaner environment in Lagos, we are also finding opportunities to provide an infrastructure and awareness initiatives that will enable an effective waste management system.”
Ghost firm, ghost policy?
Strangely enough, and contrary to the claims by the officials of the company and CLI, the statement made by Speaker Obasa, coupled with Senator Tinubu exonerating himself over the initial sacking of the PSP operators, there appears to be a major underlining political interference at play.
Owojori, who is of the Association for Waste Management in Lagos, accused government of foot-dragging on the implementation of the agreements entered into by all stakeholders.
Speaking with Saturday Tribune on the present situation of things in the waste management sector, the PSP spokesperson alleged that contrary to the agreements reached with the government and management of Visionscape, “there is a surreptitious move by government to thwart our efforts for full engagement in waste management.
“Number one is the clandestine move by management of Visionscape, in collaboration with government officials to deny our members from prompt off-loading of waste at Epe Landfill, while trucks belonging to Visionscape have unhindered access on regular basis.
“Other landfill at Ewu Elepe in Ikorodu and the one in Igando where we have access are too small for our members. Besides, access roads to these sites are so bad that it takes us two or three days to off load our trucks.
“But the most disturbing aspect is that after Ashiwaju Bola Tinubu brokered peace with all the warring groups in April this year, government officials met with us only once, and that is Engineer Adebola Shabi, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Cleaner Lagos Initiative,” said Owojori, who added that another grouse was the alleged plan that “we should be on sub-contractual agreement with Visionscape,” a move he described as “a landlord becoming a tenant.”
We’re good with genuine PSP operators –Govt
Shabi denied the allegation that officials are colluding with residents in some local governments not to pay PSP operators. He claimed efforts were in top gear to reach conclusion on how all groups will work together harmoniously to achieve the goal of cleaner Lagos.
“We are working with registered PSP and other stakeholders on the way forward, and I am sure that, by the grace of God, we will we soon reach the conclusion.
“Besides, the issue of payment is not within my purview. My responsibility is to ensure that Lagos is clean. What we are saying is that local government should sit down with all PSPs working in their areas to ensure there is no refuse.
“Our advocacy is to sensitise people on how to take care of their waste, how to bag them and to ensure that scavengers are not allow to tear their refuse bags looking for metals and other materials,” said Shabi, who also urged residents not to drop used nylon, plastics and other waste materials in the drain.
He added that part of their advocacy was to ensure that some waste materials, especially, used plastic bottles do not get to the lagoon, warning that the material has certain aroma that is attractive to the fish and that consuming such fish could be a source of cancer.
“Our focus is on improving the environment and making it cleaner, safer and healthier for all Lagosians by promoting a harmonised and holistic approach to waste management and as a result, improving operational efficiency,” he said.
The Ministry of Environment also claimed all hands were on deck for optimal delivery on the policy. As encapsulated by the ministry’s spokesman, Mr Mukaila Sanusi, an Assistant Director, during the week, the government is doing everything to ensure a refuse-free environment.
“For the past three weeks, we have been holding consultations with the relevant stakeholders in Apapa who included the NUPENG, NARTO and farm tanks owners on how to sustain the efforts of waste managers in that axis. Similar meeting is holding in Ifako-ijaiye, where we included market men and women, the artisans and others, sensitising them on how to ensure refuse-free environment, especially now that rainy season has come,” he said. He, however, declined to speak on the seeming disagreement among the waste managers. “All I can say is, CLI is on course,” he said.
Our colleagues are crooks –PSP faction
Other PSP members who belong to the faction allegedly “wooed and cajoled” by the state government to form a splinter group, made allegations of fraud that were allegedly perpetrated by the former leadership of original PSP before the advent of Ambode’s government.
According to the operator who wanted his identity covered, before the assumption of office by the present administration, the government used to pay PSP operators upfront to the tune of N250,000 monthly. Reason, according to him, was that government then realised that “we lacked the wherewithal but they just wanted refuse off the road.”
“But the irony is that many people will just collect the money without commensurate efforts to justify government’s good gesture. Indeed, it was a corruption of gargantuan order. But when Ambode came, it was discovered that it was just waste of scarce resources and I think that was part of what informed the decision to bring in a consultant to sanitise the rot, which did not go down well with some people,” said another source, who is also a PSP operator.
Visionscape not to blame –Sanusi
Findings revealed that Visionscape is currently engaged in infrastructure provision, leaving household waste to the PSP operators.
Officials from the Environment Ministry, who confirmed that talks had not been suspended as a part of the efforts at resolving the crisis, however, absolved Visionscape of any blame.
According to Sanusi, the government has instructed Visionscape to incorporate the certified and registered operators into the system without let or hindrance.
“Is Visionscape going to force them to belong? The door is open to any registered and certified operators to come into the fold. All the government is after is to get rid of refuse on Lagos roads,” Sanusi quipped.
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