Trouble
Following shut-down of Nigeria's largest recycling company,
Alkem Industry at Apapa, Lagos, some weeks ago, the Lagos
State government has warned that whoever is found
throwing waste materials or cans improperly within the state
would be dealt with according to the law.
Since the shut down of Alkem Industry, the issue of waste
management has become a concern to Lagos State Waste
Management Agency (LAWMA), the largest collector of waste
in Lagos State for over 4 years.
This has prompted the Lagos State government, through the
the Ministry of Environment, to raise awareness on how to
dispose waste materials, especially to those Lagos residents
who carelessly throw disposable plastics and snacks pack out
of commercial and private vehicles windows.
* Commissioner for Environment in Lagos, Mr. Tunji Bello
The ministry also warned that whoever is found throwing any
form of waste material improperly shall be duly dealt with
according to the law.
Speaking at the Environment Watch Summit held on the 6th of
June, 2014 at the PSSD centre, Magodo, Mr Michael
Ogunjuyigbe said the mentality of Lagosians to throw
disposable plastics and snacks pack out of the vehicle window
is becoming more appalling than ever before.
He urged the government to introduce a more stern
punishment for the offense.
"It has been discovered that the way and manner Lagosians
go about disposing waste materials within the metropolis has
shown that the level of awareness of the citizens is not
enough," Ogunjuyigbe stated.
He added that: "We have seen from survey that the people
deemed it responsible to throw plastic bottles out of the
vehicle windows than laying it low in the vehicle while the
drivers clean up the bus after the day's job.
"The impact of their ignorant has today become evident in the
high level of waste congestion as seen in our environment
today.
* Waste inside canal in Lagos
Investigation has shown that since the sudden shut-down of
Alkem Industry in March 2014, about 2,017 gutters and 118
link-carnal are already blocked with waste materials in Lagos
State.
Ogunjuyigbe stated that this 'consequentially pose threat to
residents in Lagos State'.
He further buttressed that the rainy season is already here
and if drastic steps are not taken as a matter of urgency, the
flood experience in 2011 will be a child's play.
Commenting on the indiscriminate disposal of waste materials
within Lagos, Mrs. Kemi Fasode, a LAWMA staff, explained
that the rate at which waste is being disposed in Lagos State
in recent times has become an issue of concern.
* Waste materials inside drainage in Lagos
She added that disposal rate that used to be 20 trucks per
day has increased to 65 trucks per day.
"Our road cleaners are also few compare to the dirt that
constitute nuisance on our roads today. We watch commuters
throw wastes through the windows of their vehicles to our
faces even as we clean the road," she stated.
"It is not that the waste materials are more than what we
used to have in Lagos but because our largest collecting
agents no longer operate makes it obvious that there is an
urgent need for regulations on how people dispose waste
materials in Lagos State."
Mrs Ogboye Monisola, 32, a business woman,shares her
experience in a commercial bus as she tried to correct a fellow
commuter who chose to throw an empty bottle of Pepsi
through the window of a commuter bus .
* Packed waste materials
"I was coming from the Island two days ago and boarded a
bus to Oshodi. The lady who was sitting by my side wanted to
throw an empty bottle of Pepsi through the window on the
Third Mainland Bridge.
"I quickly cautioned her and urged her to leave it on the floor
as I was sure that the bus coordinator will clean up when we
get down. I was shocked with the way she looked at me with
disdain and hissed as she eventually threw the plastic bottle
into the lagoon anyway.
"She then looked at my face andasked me if I could tell her
who owns the lagoon that makes me to complain on its
behalf.
"I was baffled with her ignorance," she narrated.
An attempt to find out the cause of sudden closure Alkem
Industry through a staff of the company, who pleaded to be
anonymous, revealed that the sudden closure was as a result
of high degree of gross mismanagement by the Indian
executives who own the company.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
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