BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI
The Lagos State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA is presently thumping its chest in self-congratulation. The Authority has made bold to declare that there is a new dawn in waste management after it introduced a fresh approach to waste disposal in the state.

The approach, dubbed Community Clean-up Campaign, 3C, is a new initiative that involves the exploration of technical and human capacity in partnership with community development associations, CDAS, communities focal persons, women leaders, NGOs, media among others, to achieve a clean and aesthetically viable environment.

The flag-off of the 3C took place at Makoko, a suburb in Mainland Local Government Area, on Saturday, September 10, 2011, a day that will remain memorable to the residents who had lived with filth for long before respite came their way.

Before this happy development, residents had spent years in this somewhat hidden community,  mingling with reptiles such as snakes which often crawled out from heaps of refuse that dot the suburb.  Many, Vanguard Metro, VM, learnt, had been forced to relocate from Makoko due to the danger posed by these dangerous animals.

But as it is the case in many Nigerian cities where accommodation remains a challenge, there is hardly a vacant house in Makoko, as people often come to occupy houses vacated by others.  While this change in location and accommodation is acknowledged by the residents of Makoko, one thing that has remained unchanged about this community is its tag as a “dirty neighbourhood”.

Tunde Olabisi, Chairman, Makoko Community Development Association, CDA, decried what he called “unconcerned attitude” of successive administrations, both at local and state levels, about the situation. He said that communal efforts over the decades had done little in clearing heaps of refuse that are common features in the suburb. At the last count, 14 illegal refuse sites were said to be existing in Makoko from where reptiles breed.

According to Olabisi, while communities in similar situation in the past including Agege, Ajegunle and Mushin have been transformed through government’s intervention, Makoko, has remained its old self, with the residents wallowing in dirt and unhygienic environment.

Also speaking with VM, Mr Ifeanyi Uzor, another resident, complained about the health hazards posed by stench from decaying refuse heaps within the community. “For too long, we have lived with and suffered from stinking refuse sites, hoping that our ordeal would end someday,” he said.

But all that changed that auspicious Saturday as LAWMA, led by its Managing Director, Mr. Ola Oresasnya, took its Community Clean-Up campaign to the  community, assuring of a sustained effort to transform Makoko to one of the cleanest areas in Lagos. To be incorporated into the campaign are over 100 youths who will help in regular clearing of canals, removal of refuse, and earning wages in the process.

The exercise which witnessed the deployment of heavy duty equipment including dredgers, bulldozers and trucks, was supported by religious bodies such as Celestial Church of Christ, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Muslim community and Makoko residents who not only showed excitement but were eager to be part of the clean-up.

Of course, nothing less could have been expected from the residents as the exercise was in their interest.  From a canal close to the Makoko Police Station to a dumpsite on Church Street, the LAWMA crew led by Oresanya excavated  refuse which were carted away by waiting refuse trucks.

Oresanya in a chat with VM during the exercise said the programme entails exploration of technical and human capacity in partnership with CDAs, community focal persons, non-governmental organisations, religious groups and the media to achieve a clean Lagos. He added it was aimed at ridding slums and inner city communities of backlogs of refuse that had accumulated over the years,  constituting health and environmental hazards to inhabitants.

The LAWMA boss emphasized that stakeholders living within affected communities are expected to participate actively in the exercise to achieve the best possible results with focus mostly on unemployed street youths in the community, adding that abandoned sites from where LAWMA evacuated refuse would be taken over by government and converted to training centres for youths. LAWMA, he explained, intends to offer employment to 100 youths in Makoko through the exercise as well as collaborate with religious bodies within the community.

He explained that the objectives of the programme includes creating awareness and educating members of the community on the importance of community health, bringing sanitation services closer to the grassroots by encouraging local initiative and participation in community cleanup exercise and to encourage communities to appreciate and respect their environment as a duty.

Oresanya told VM that the initiative would be launched across the 57 councils in the state, adding  that the 14 identified abandoned sites turned-refuse dumps would be adopted by the state government, in collaboration with the CDA members, and turned into either recreational centres or developmental centres for the benefit of the community members.