The Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI), Mr Adebola Shabi, on Friday said the aim of the initiative was to reduce waste pollution in the state.
Shabi made the disclosure at the sensitisation programme on ‘Proper Waste Disposal Adherence to Environmental Laws’, organised by the Badagry Local Government and the CLI in Badagry, Lagos State.
He said that CLI idea was to invite experts who would be able to manage the waste in order to have good waste management system in the state.
“What we had before was a situation in which Private Sector Participant (PSP) operators collected waste from the residents and dumped it.
“It is now the responsibility of the Lagos State Government to manage it.
“When you dump waste in a dump site without proper management, it becomes hazardous to people’s health.
Shabi said that the Olusosun dump site was shut down because of public health, safety, and environmental degradation it had caused in the past years.
“We have reopened Abule-Egba dump site temporarily, pending the time engineered Landfill site will be ready in Epe.
“There is a plan to build other landfills in Badagry and Ikorodu.
“With the coming up of the Epe sanitary landfill, all dumpsites such the one in the city centre, which are major sources of air and underground water pollution, have been closed to refuse disposal,” he said.
He commended the residents of the coastal town for maintaining a clean environment.
According to him, this is the only town visited by our team that we did not find waste in your streets.
In his remarks, Mr Olusegun Onilude, the Chairman, Badagry Local Government, commended the state government for the initiative.
The chairman, represented by Mr Kamorudeen Ajape, the Secretary to the council, said the initiative had impacted greatly on people of the town.
He said that a clean environment would result to a healthy society.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a landfill is a highly engineered facility with multiple layers of protection that isolates wastes from the environment.
NAN also reports that people from different communities in Badagry, young, old, market women and men attended the programme.
