Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has called on the people of the state (Lagosians) to have a change of attitude towards waste disposal.
Governor Ambode made the call on Wednesday at a town hall meeting held at the Badore Ferry Terminal, Lagos.
Speaking on the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) billed to commence in September, he urged the people to be patient with the government as the comprehensive waste management policy was in its gestation period.
Ambode noted that once fully operational, waste would be collected in line with international best practices while all parts of the state would be kept clean always.
He, however, urged residents to adopt a new attitude to disposing of waste and desist from dumping in drainages and canals.
The governor assured them that his administration would provide adequate bins to discourage indiscriminate dumping across the state.
“The question to ask is why are people putting their waste in the drains and canals hoping that somehow the water will flush it away? The answer comes ba the k to government because we have not been able to provide the people with enough bins or places where they can put the dirt.
“They cannot leave the dirt in the house so they must have a channel to get it out. As government being able to provide enough locations, bins, bags and so on where they can put that refuse and then we can collect it and when we collect it efficiently, as part of their attitude, they will not go back to the canals and the drains. They will only go back to where we have provided for them.
“Now, so we have enough equipment to clean Lagos? Are we having enough plastic bags, compactors that can go round the population of 22million people? The answer before now is no. We are the largest waste producer in the world more than New York. New York produces 10,000 tonnes of waste every day, the waste accounted for in Lagos is 13,000 tonnes per day not to talk of areas that are not documented.
“Do we have enough equipment and compactors? We don’t have, but how do we have it? We have not increased the taxes you are paying. The population is increasing and by that fact, the waste is increasing and we have not increased revenue, but we need new equipment. Some people were doing it for us before but we all saw the equipment they have been using to clean up the state and the truth is it can never do it right.
“If we say we want to be a smart city and globally competitive, we must use the approach that allows you to collect waste in a globally competitive way and that is what we have done with the CLI without me punishing tax payers. We have a partnership that provides 500 brand new compactors without me paying one naira yet and with the partnership, we will provide 27,500 sanitation workers in all our wards across the state who will be uniformed and clean Ikorodu, Ayobo the same way they cleaned Victoria Island and then they will provide bins where our people can now have the culture and attitude to put their dirt in the bins instead of putting it in the canals and drains,” Governor Ambode said.
