By Our Reporter
The Managing Director Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, has informed residents of Bariga in Bariga Local Government Area of Lagos State that the community has been chosen as host for the next recycling facility being worked on by the state government.
Gbadegesin made the disclosure on Sunday during the Weekly Community Based Environmental Sanitation Advocacy campaign held at Omobokun Street, Ekimogun Underbridge Iyana Oworo, Bariga Local Council Development Area.
According to the LAWMA boss, Bariga area of Lagos is overdue for a recycling facility adding that by the time the facility domicile in the community, the Waste to Wealth plant will reduce illegal waste disposal in the area.
He enjoined all residents to collaborate with the government to ensure that Lagos is free of garbage saying that waste bins will soon be made available to tenements in Bariga.
Speaking during the awareness tour of Bariga, Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, called on residents of the densely populated Bariga and other parts of Lagos to imbibe the culture of good sanitation practices.
“What we are trying to do is to ramp up sensitization and advocacy before the formal commencement of the monthly environmental Sanitation which will soon be announced by the Governor” he said.
Wahab mentioned that some houses in the area have been investigated and were found to have channelled their septic tanks into the drainages and some have built their fences on the drainage channels adding that these houses will soon be sealed by the appropriate Agency.
He implored residents to support government effort through regular cleaning of the drainages in front of their houses and desist from the unwholesome act of illegal waste disposal saying it is expedient for everyone to take ownership of all infrastructure provided by the government.
On the issue of flooding experienced in the Bariga area, Wahab said government will reassess the claims by the community members that the sandfilling carried out at Oworo end is responsible for the flooding incidents encountered in the Ekimogun area, adding that government is determined to proffer a lasting solution to flooding in the area.
He maintained that the environmental advocacy campaign has been effective as the communities earlier visited at the commencement of the advocacy programme has been revisited and these communities have sustained the clean up and the communities are cleaner and healthier.
He encouraged residents to embrace Good Environmental Habits stressing that this would reduce the burden on the health sector and ensure the effects are positive on the infrastructure provided by government.
The Chairman of Bariga Local Council Development Area, Honourable Kolade Alabi while speaking, said that Governor Sanwo -Olu commissioned the Ekimogun Road but it was disheartening that the road is in a sorry state because of the unsanitary attitude of residents.
“We, the residents of Bariga must therefore stop littering our roads and canals with wastes, we must bag our wastes in our respective homes and always patronise the PSP” he said.
He said the government is determined to ensure the Environment is always Clean and as such every house in Bariga must own a bin which would be made available by the government at a reasonable amount.
The Managing Director Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) informed that Bariga Local Government has been identified as one of the Local Council Development Area that will accommodate a recycling facility adding that the Waste to Wealth facility will reduce illegal waste disposal in the area.
He enjoined all residents to collaborate with the government to ensure that Lagos is free of garbage saying that waste bins will soon be made available to tenements in Bariga.
In her response, the Senior Special Assistant on Environmental Health, Bariga Local Government, Hon. Suliat Oguns pledged the support of people of the Bariga Community saying the community residents would ensure that waste is properly disposed and infrastructure provided by the State Government will be effectively utilised.