Lagos Warns Saboteurs To Desist From Dumping Refuse, Dredging Indiscriminately

The Lagos State Government has issued a stern warning to residents dumping refuse indiscriminately on the streets and dredgers sand filling wetlands to desist from such unwholesome practice or face the wrath of the law.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare who stated this on Friday in Lagos whilst fielding questions on a television programme said the PSP operators could not cope with the quantum of waste being generated in the state estimated to be 13,000 metric tons per day.
He said the PSP operators erroneously believed that they were being put out of business and assured them that they were still an integral part of the loop as attested to by the on-going re-certification exercise of the operators.
He disclosed that the Lagos State Government was tackling the knotty waste problems in the state in a comprehensive manner with the assistance of about 12 consortiums including Visionscape, a globally acclaimed  environmental utility group that would confront the issue with technology, better funding and germane solutions under the Cleaner Lagos Initiative which will become fully operational in September.
He said that what was currently being experienced was just the transitory period aggravated by acts of saboteurs and dredgers involving only transportation of waste, adding that under CLI refuse will be a resource to the government.
His words: “Under the CLI, waste would first be collected from all the 377 wards in the state before being transported to the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) where they would be sorted out into nylons, papers, bottles and organic wastes for recycling. About 27, 500 workers would be employed and they would earn slightly more than the minimum wage, enjoy medical and life insurance as well as injury cover. They will not spend money on transportation as they would be recruited from their neighbourhood”.
The Commissioner assured residents and indigenes of the state that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode would deliver on all his promises, adding that Lagos State would be the first state in the country to surmount the problem of waste disposal.