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 Daily
Independent Online.
* Monday, July 05, 2004.
No amount of refuse can intimidate us - LAWMA
boss
A chartered
accountant, Mr. Olusola Popoola was appointed general manager of the
Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) by Governor Bola Ahmed
Tinubu in February 26, 2001. Before this appointment, Popoola was the deputy managing director, Highway Managers Waste
Management Contractors. Since he became LAWMA boss, he has taken the
issue of waste management in the state to a greater height. Less than four years in the
saddle, the environmentalist declares that no amount of refuse can
disturb him from realising the mandate given to him by the governor to
rid the state of refuse. He spoke with Dada Jackson, Senior Correspondent, Property
& Environment. Excepts:
Not much has been
heard about LAWMA in the last six months, why?
I would like to disagree with you, that
not much has been heard of LAWMA in the last six months. The truth of the
matter is that we have been working diligently as far as the issue of
waste management is concerned in Lagos State. We have been doing so much
concerning the clearing of refuse in the state except that we have
refused to make so much noise about our activities.
The issue at stake now is the determination by the management of
the authority to eradicate the problem of refuse in Lagos State and there
is no going back until the issue of refuse in the state is totally
addressed. I want to assure people of Lagos, that we do not believe in
noise making, the people of Lagos I am quite aware, are appreciative of
what we are doing and we shall continue to address the problem of refuse
with all the seriousness it deserves.
Every nook and cranny of the
state has been overtaken by refuse, do you agree?
Let me also disagree with you that every
nook and cranny of the state has been overtaken by refuse. What you see,
are pockets of refuse, which during the rainy season, cannot be avoided.
I hope you are aware that during the rainy season, the prevalence of
maize consumption is unusually high. There is the tendency for people to
dump cornhusk on the streets and the highways. But this is not supposed
to be so.
Further factor that was responsible for the upsurge of
refuse in the state could be attributed to the last nationwide strike
called by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). Throughout the period the strike
lasted, our staff could not go out to perform their official duties and
since refuse generation is an everyday affair, the tendency for the
refuse to mount became apparent.
However, since the strike was called off, our staff
have gone back to the field and if you observe closely, you would see a
remarkable reduction of refuse on the landscape. However, there are flush
points where the volume of refuse being generated is on the high side. We
have places like Mushin, Oshodi as areas where the volume of waste
generation is high. The point must be made here, that the pressure on
LAWMA is much and we are striving hard to ensure that we are alive to our
responsibility. Do not forget that about three weeks ago, Asiwaju Bola
Ahmed Tinubu mandated LAWMA to form a partnership with one of its
contractors, Highway Managers, to combat the problem of refuse in the
state headlong. In the last three weeks, the joint taskforce has been
battling the problem of refuse holistically. So far, we have successfully
tackled the problem of refuse in Ojuelegba, Itire - Lawanson Road,
Obalende, Ikoyi, Yaba just to mention a few. We have also intensified our
efforts at tackling one problem of refuse along Mushin-Oshodi Road,
Alakuko and some other places. I must not fail to mention a very
worrisome development contributing to the issue of increasing refuse
generation in the state. The attitude of Lagosians to refuse disposal
needs to be addressed. Our people have formed the habit of dumping refuse
on road medians, walkways, highways and every available space in the
metropolis. Let me inform you that not quite long ago, some unknown
persons dumped refuse at the centre of the Ogudu-Ojota road and if by
design, some unidentified persons dumped a large volume of refuse on the
this mainland bridge, what can you make of this; don’t forget that there
are no residential buildings on the third mainland bridge, yet some
people chose the middle of Third Mainland bridge to dump their refuse.
Due to the huge volume of refuse dumped on the Third Mainland bridge, my
men worked 24 hours non-stop to ensure that the refuse were removed.
Another important point I want to make, concerning the issue of refuse,
is the need for Lagosians to take cognizance of the fact, that they have
to pay for the refuse they generate (no matter how small).
In developed countries, people are obliged to pay for
the refuse they generate. But here, the reverse is the case. I think the
government should enlighten the citizens of the significance of paying
for the refuse generated by them. You should also not forget that another
factor responsible for the high volume of refuse being generated in the
state, is the large population of the state and also, the rate at which
people migrate into the state from other parts of the country, is
alarming. Right now, more than a 100 people are entering the state and
there is nothing you can do to stop the influx. With the increase in the
population of people, who come into Lagos, the tendency for the waste
being generated to rise, cannot be ruled out.
What is the state government
doing to assist LAWMA, considering the challenges that lie ahead?
His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu
is a lover of the environment and this has been responsible for the support
he has given the authority since he assumed office as the Governor of the
state. To demonstrate his love for the authority, he has released the sum
of N12 million for the rehabilitation of six Dino trucks and hopefully in
another four weeks the trucks would be functional and I can assure you
that very soon, Lagosians would have cause to smile because the city of
Lagos would be completely rid of refuse.
However, the fact should be stated here, that refuse
generation is a continuous exercise. Also, it should be noted that Waste
Management is capital intensive and government alone cannot do it. The
private sector should be actively involved in this project. The state
government has just appointed three contractors to rehabilitate three
dumpsites in the state namely; Shomolu, Abule-Egba and Olusosun and
hopefully in the next four weeks or so, these sites would be fully
rehabilitated.
What is LAWMA doing to the
Marini refuse site?
The Marini refuse ground may soon be
converted into a dumpsite, in other words, the Marini location would soon
become a transfer loading station or if you like, you may call it a
sorting facility. This development is coming into realisation by special
permission of the Executive Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Most of the things you have
said in respect of making Lagos state a clean environment, would require
that you have enough material on ground to prosecute this task, what do
you make of the fleet of grounded vehicles doting your Iddo yards?
You see the problem of grounded vehicles
had been giving us serious concern and I must let you know that we are
working towards ensuring that we bring some of these grounded vehicles
back to life. Like I mentioned earlier on, the governor has released the
sum of N12 million to LAWMA, for rehabilitating six Dino Trucks and I can
assure you, that very soon, most of the grounded trucks will be put to
use again.
How do you react to the
proposed zoning of PSP operators in the state?
I remember that the Commissioner for the
Environment, Mr. Tunji, Bello, mentioned something in respect of this
arrangement during his ministerial press briefing. The zoning of PSP
operators into 25 zones would further sanitise the activities of PSP
operators in the state. This arrangement would help to bring the
activities of the operators close to the people they are intended to
serve.
It is a welcome development and I am sure
the zoning arrangement would begin in August this year. In a nutshell, I
think it is a laudable initiative.
What are you doing to the indiscriminate
dumping of refuse at the Olusosun dumpsites?
The authority is greatly disturbed by the
activities of PSP operators and cart pushers, who dump refuse
indiscriminately at the site. LAWMA has noticed this worrisome
development lately and the attention of the PSP operators and cart
pushers had been drawn to this unwholesome development. However, it is
very unfortunate, that none of them has responded to our calls to stop
dumping refuse indiscriminately at the dumpsite.
As a first step, we would convey a meeting of all the
stakeholders in the Waste Management sub-sector very soon with a view to
finding a lasting solution to this problem. The authority would also
embark on an aggressive enlightenment campaign towards sensitising the
public, especially the PSP operators and the cart pushers. For now, we
are still employing the persuasive approach but this is not to say that
we may not likely apply the big stick if the need arises.
We will continue to employ a corrective measure instead
of a punitive approach. Our people must change their attitude towards
refuse disposal and imbibe the culture of managing their refuse in a more
civilized manner. It is pertinent to mention here, that there is need for
PSP operators and cart pushers who intend to dump refuse in any of our
dumpsites to be prepared to pay for such service.
You just came back from the
United States of America, where you attended a seminar on the
environment, what informed your decision to embark on that journey and of
what benefit to LAWMA?
I was in the United States of America for
a seminar on environment, like you rightly mentioned. What informed my
attending the seminar is that as you are aware, apart from being a
chartered accountant, I am also an environmentalist, having been involved
in issues affecting the environment, in the last four years. The seminar
has served as an eye opener. I have learnt a lot in the area of Waste
Management and I intend to make good use, the experience I gained during
the seminar. Waste management like I keep on saying, is capital intensive
and I am using this medium to appeal to some of our wealthy citizen, to
inject money into Waste management Government alone cannot handle it
because on you know, there are other competing demands for the little
resources available to the government.
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