500,000 Benefit From Lagos Waste Management

At least half a million people now benefit from the management of wastes in Lagos state, southwest Nigeria through direct and indirect employment.

This was disclosed Wednesday by the Managing Director of the Lagos Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, Ola Oresanya.

The LAWMA boss and his team who were on a visit to the headquarters of Independent Communications Network Limited, publishers of TheNEWS and P.M.NEWS, said the value chain created by the management of the huge wastes generated in Lagos has resulted in the large number of people benefitting from that sector through job creation and poverty alleviation.

Oresanya, who spoke about the sterling success his agency has achieved after he took over in 2005, said he started with only 10 trucks and now the agency has 834 trucks evacuating wastes from the 377 wards in the state.

According to him, “every waste you throw out is not a waste unless you waste it,” adding that the huge population of Lagos is a blessing in terms of the wastes the residents generate because it is being recycled at various sites to create energy and various items.

Oresanya said some of the wastes is being recycled into fertilizer at its Ikorodu recycling plant, which he said is one of the biggest in Africa.

He said his agency is half way into its 15-year development road map, adding that there is an effective partnership with private sector in waste management and this has resulted in the success LAWMA has recorded.

He said thousands of youths have been recruited to police the streets of Lagos round the clock to prevent wastes from being dumped indiscriminately on the roads as was the case some years ago, and that residents are being sensitised on the need to keep their environment clean and dispose off their wastes properly.