The Lagos State Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, has announced plans by the state government to boost its waste evacuation capacity with 220 additional trucks.
The announcement comes about two months after Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu disclosed that Lagos would receive 150 compactor trucks to improve waste evacuation.
Hamzat made the disclosure on Saturday while speaking with journalists during the monthly environmental sanitation exercise in Festac, Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area.
He explained that the additional trucks would complement the existing Private Sector Participation (PSP) waste collection system.
“The state government will be bringing in another 220 trucks to make sure that we supplement our PSP. What we need our people to also do is to make sure that they patronise their PSP, not the cart pushers, because they are not organised. You don’t know where the waste is ending up,” he said.
According to Hamzat, the growing population of Lagos has resulted in increased daily waste generation, making additional evacuation capacity and residents’ cooperation necessary.
“A lot of people are coming to Lagos, and therefore they generate waste. So part of what you can see that we are doing is that we are getting many more trucks to actually go and evacuate,” he said.
The deputy governor urged residents to dispose of refuse properly, warning that dumping waste in canals could block water channels and aggravate flooding.
He also encouraged communities across the state to organise regular environmental sanitation exercises, with a goal of ensuring residents clean their surroundings at least once every month.
“We cannot be a people without a healthy environment. It doesn’t matter what we do, a cleaner environment is what makes a city or a state sustainable,” he said.
Hamzat further called on residents to take responsibility for keeping their surroundings clean and patronise approved waste collection services.
He said the government’s community engagement efforts were designed to promote a culture of cleanliness and provide a healthier environment for residents, particularly children.
On environmental management in Festac, Hamzat acknowledged the responsibilities of the Federal Housing Authority in the area but stressed that residents and property managers were still expected to comply with Lagos State environmental regulations.
He reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to maintaining a sustainable and habitable environment, while commending the local government chairman and residents for participating in the sanitation exercise.
Also speaking, the Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said waste management had improved due to the deployment of 24-hour emergency response teams and efforts to address challenges at landfills and dumpsites.
Wahab said the government had increased its engagement with PSP operators to strengthen waste collection, adding that the state had intervened in areas where the Lagos State Waste Management Authority would ordinarily not operate.
He explained that PSP operators had been assured of government support to improve their services, while residents were expected to pay for waste collection in accordance with the polluter-pays principle.
According to Wahab, the arrangement would provide PSP operators with the necessary support while ensuring residents receive the services they pay for.
The commissioner added that Lagos was moving away from the traditional linear waste management model of collecting and dumping refuse towards a circular system where waste is recovered and converted into useful resources.
He noted that the transition had resulted in the development of material recovery facilities in Badagry and Epe, alongside transfer stations at Soluyi and Olusosun.
On cart pushers, Wahab said the government was engaging with them but would avoid policies that could create additional environmental or security problems.
He said investigations revealed that some cart pushers dumped collected waste in drainage channels and road medians, worsening environmental challenges and contributing to flooding.
Wahab also raised concerns over reports connecting some cart pushers with criminal activities, including the cutting and theft of metals, stressing that the government could not implement policies capable of aggravating security challenges in Lagos.
