By Kingsley Adegboye & Olasunkanmi Akoni

Lagos  State Government at the weekend restated its commitment to provide a liveable environment conducive for human development. The state governor, Babatunde Fashola made the disclosure at the just concluded 4th Annual Sensitisation and Awareness Workshop organised by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority LAWMA, for highway sweepers  and stakeholders.

He told the teeming participants at the opening ceremony of the two-day event that their contribution to the shared vision of the state government is very crucial and requires improved and renewed dedication on daily basis.

Gov. Fashola noted that street cleaning either manually or mechanically, is a major component of sustenance of public hygiene, especially in big cities all over the world. “You are expected to discharge your duty with all sense of purpose and display of skill. Lagos has its challenges of high population density, high vehicular density and pedestrian lifestyle, especially around clustered settlements.

New LAWMA trucks…women drive some of them

Peculiar attributes
“These peculiar attributes have a resultant effect of littering and indiscriminate dumping of refuse. We pledge on a mandate to surmount these challenges, and we must not relent at this point to improve on our previous modest achievement.

“I therefore want to implore you to take advantage of this annual workshop to interact more with your supervisors and employers to evolve solutions that will enhance improved service delivery individually and collectively. Let me remind you that your individual effort aggregates into our common glory and success in the administration of this state,” he said.

In his address, Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, noted that the government has come to realise that the nature of highway sweeping makes the sweepers the most vulnerable to road hazards, pointing out that on many occasions they have become victims of careless drivers.

According to Bello, this has put many sweepers at the risk of physical incapacitation, injuries and even death, stressing that it is unfortunate that the government has recorded several cases of these ugly incidents leading to hospitalisation and loss of lives.

He said it is against this backdrop that the workshop which is a forum for sensitization, enlightenment and awareness creation regarding general safety precautions in the course of duty, becomes very important.

“We realise the need to sustain our human resources because the street sweeping initiative cannot exist without you, hence the need to adequately ensure steps for your safety and protection”, Bello said.

The Managing Director, LAWMA, Mr. Ola Oresanya who noted in his address that street sweeping initiative in the state has endeared the international community and potential investors to appreciate the visible efforts of the state government towards promotion of clean environment, however pointed out that, street sweeping programme is not without its challenges.

Oresanya said the sweepers are faced with the risks of infection and accident on the highway due to careless attitude of some motorists and motorcycle riders, adding that LAWMA has, therefore, expended considerable amount of money in organising training for supervisors who are the link between the sweepers and their respective service providers.

“Through this workshop, stakeholders such as the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN, LASTMA, NURTW and the Okada Riders Association are brought together for necessary awareness on safety consciousness on the road which is a collective responsibility,” LAWMA boss said.

Meanwhile, in recognition of dedication to work,Oresanya on behalf LAWMA presented cheques worth N7 million to some outstanding sweepers. He explained that the cash gift was to further encourage the beneficiaries to work harder as well as encourage others to emulate them.

He noted that the street sweeping initiative was repackaged in year 2008 as a poverty alleviation programme with the recruitment of over 10,000 workforce who are deployed for intensive day and night sweeping of the state highways.

Speaking on behalf of Service Providers Forum, the chairman of the forum, Apostle Akin Adewole, noted that sweepers are faced with a lot of challenges.