By Olasunkanmi Akoni

Solid waste management and other related refuse in Lagos will be better taken care of if the necessary equipment is available to complement the manpower and facilities on ground presently, Lagos State ?Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, new Managing Director, Engr. AbdulWahab Ogunbiyi has said.

According to the state’s development plan, this is important as it has been observed that the over 23 million inhabitants of Lagos produce large amount of solid waste in the form of paper, cardboard, plastic, metal, food and other materials. Before recent times, this has been collected and dumped in landfill sites.

However, the fact that much of the dumped waste products can be recycled makes many scavengers earn a difficult and potentially hazardous livelihood by searching the landfill sites for the materials. Lagos is presently transforming its waste management systems so that re-cycling can be achieved more effectively and more safely. This can be an important source of jobs and an important area for private sector involvement.

Ogunbiyi, while unveiling action plan of his agency to Saturday Vanguard, explained that the new administration would focus on fabrication of necessary equipment with local content to further address the increasing waste generation in the state. According to him, the rate of waste generated by residents has hit 13,000 metric tones on a daily basis, hence the need for a holistic approach to tackle the accompanied challenges.

He however frowned at the continued improper waste disposal among residents who are fond of indiscriminate dumping of wastes, especially in water channels. Ogunbiyi disclosed that plans have reached advanced stage to design a technological device for waste management.

The LAWMA boss, who noted that the increasing population of the residents could necessitate the increase waste generation, said a lot could still be done to control indiscriminate waste dumping among residents, if people change their attitude towards waste disposal.

“We still have to change our attitude towards waste disposal. People still throw bottled water plastic, water sachets indiscriminately on the road while driving. Majority of our people still throw dirt from their vehicles on the road at will. These are parts of the attitudinal challenges we are facing at LAWMA. But we won’t stop sensitising our people