Lagos: Cancellation of sanitation will not affect us negatively —Adejare

The Lagos State Government has declared that its recent cancellation of monthly environmental sanitation exercise will have no negative effect on the state, rather it will enhance the prosperity of the people through increased business activities.

This was disclosed by the Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Babatunde Adejare during November 2016 monthly press briefing of the Ministry.

Adejare pointed out that it had been the position of the state government over the time that a megacity like Lagos State should run a 24-hour economy to bring about greater prosperity for the people, stressing that it had become inappropriate to continue to restrict movement of people for three hours in a mega city like Lagos.

According to the commissioner, “Sanitation of the environment should be an everyday affair as it is done in other parts of the world. There is no place in the entire world where the whole state is shutdown for three hours because of sanitation.”

He disclosed that cancellation of the monthly environmental sanitation was a win-win situation with the new plan in waste management which would involve Public Private Partnership (PPP) in domestic waste management, investment of about N86 billion in four years and the deployment of over 600 new Mercedes Benz Compactors and the engagement of street sweepers in all wards in the state.

Dr Adejare also stated that this new dimension in waste management which will involve closure of existing landfill sites, their replacement with engineered landfill sites, creation of transfer Loading Stations in Local Government Areas, deployment of over one million ultra-modern waste bins with censors to monitor their movement against theft, was aimed at injecting technology and resources into waste management in Lagos state through partnership with world renowned waste managers.

The expected impact of this new arrangement is that waste disposal will no longer be a challenge as efficient system will be on ground for effective management of waste which will inevitably push cart pushers out of business.

While restating government’s resolve to expeditiously apply regulatory and enforcement measures against contraventions of government’s policies and regulations, Adejare enjoined residents to voluntarily comply with the state’s environmental laws.