N7bn waste management project established in Ondo

AS part of the effort to rid the state of waste materials and improve the living condition and well-being of the people, the Ondo State government has established a collaboration with a waste with a waste management company, ZL Global Alliance Company.

Apart from keeping the State clean, the project will also open employment opportunities for over 20,000 youths in the state while the synergy will generate about N60 million into the purse of the state government and 20 percent of the resources generated annually by the firm will also be given to the state government.

Speaking during the inauguration of the project, the state governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, said the waste management project conform with
programme conform with his administration commitment to keep the state clean, green and healthy.

Akeredolu said his administration would give the company adequate support to ensure the success of the project in the state saying the state would benefit immensely from the waste to wealth project.

He said, “There are lots of benefits to gain from this project, it will create employment opportunities for our youths. It will also generate revenue for the government. The state will realise a sum of N60million annually from this project.”

“We will give the company all the necessary supports. It is now clear that waste is no more waste, it will be turned to wealth in this state.”

The Managing Director of ZL Global Alliance Nigeria, Mrs Abiola Bashorun, disclosed that the project would gulp N7.12 billion and would benefit the state in the area of revenue generation and creation of employment as well as sanitation.

She said, “as environmental experts, we are saddled with the responsibility of providing services that cover the effective and efficient evacuation of waste, transportation, treatment and disposal of both solid and liquid waste as well as e-waste and medical waste.

“The first state to sign the contract with us is Ondo State in 2015, but the first place to flag off in Kaduna state. We have some of the youths that came with us, we have about 6,500 Kaduna youths on board in two years and we hoping to double that here in Ondo State at least in the first tranche.”

This programme is to flag off our PPP integrated initiative with the Ondo state and also, we did another one yesterday when the facilities were handed over to us by the government and the machinery was showcase and employment of the people onboarding was showcase.

I want to specifically say this, all our projects are youth based. The population of Nigeria is a youth-based so any company that is not looking at that direction is only blowing the whistle in the air. In our company, we only employ youths, we train them and certified them so that the legacy of our leadership can be ongoing.

Bashorun, however, solicited for the maximum cooperation from the people and residents of the state, advising them to always make their environment clean, saying cleanliness is next to Godliness.

“My advice to the people of the State is that cleanness is very important ,therefore, they should please try to collaborate with us when we come to their houses to pack the waste, we will give them containers to pack their waste because waste containment is the first step to stop disease and they should not forget that this need to be financed, therefore, when we come to them to collect the little that we will be collecting for the government, they should please corporate with us.”

She explained that the collection would be in three legs saying, “the first is the area of containment, movement of the waste and the management of the final destination of the waste which is dump site or down fills. In between, we are going to be separating because it is a waste to wealth initiative.

“We will be separating into metals, plastic so that we can sell to neighbouring states. Like I will always say that Ondo State is a hub. Ondo State has about seven states bordering it and if we create a right economy, we rid Nigeria of the power of Lagos state. Ondo State has the longest coastal line.

ZLGA is also mandated to collect waste levies, manage resources conservation and also fleets and equipment that are utilised in the execution of this project.