Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has collaborated with various stakeholders, especially community leaders to end indiscriminate dumping of waste in the state.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, Mr Ibrahim Odumboni, made this known in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday.
Odumboni said that the Authority had improved on waste policing activities across various communities by strategically positioning personnel on ground to monitor the environment.
“The task of achieving a cleaner and livable environment is one that requires the involvement of all stakeholders.
“This is why we are working with community leaders to stamp out improper waste disposal, which has exposed our environment and people living in it to various hazards,” Odumboni said.
The LAWMA boss said that the Authority’s enforcement team had embarked on a comprehensive statewide campaign.
He said that the campaign was geared to arrest and prosecute those bent on causing environmental degradation in the metropolis.
He said that the Authority was out to punish those derailing its efforts toward attaining a sustainable environment in the state.
“Our enforcement team has been made visible across various communities.
“They ensured total compliance with the environment laws of the state, arresting defaulters and the outlawed cart pushers in the process.
“Business facilities known to have contravened the laws are also being sealed off to serve as deterrent to others,” Odumboni said.
The LAWMA boss also charged the Igando-Ikotun Local Council Development Area (LCDA) community on waste policing, for clean and sustainable environment.
He urged residents of the area to imbibe positive attitudinal change toward their surroundings.
He said that community waste policing would create employment opportunities for youths in the council.
The LAWMA boss said that community waste policing would also forestall indiscriminate dumping of waste on road medians and other unauthorised locations, as youths monitored identified black spots across the council area.
“Community waste policing is a sure way to sustain good waste management.
“It is also a means of youth empowerment and revenue generation.
“So I urge the council lawmakers to examine their by-laws and do the needful,” he said.
Odumboni highlighted the environmental and economic benefits of recycling and waste separation at source, noting that the process would reduce the volume of waste reaching the landfills, while also creating jobs.
He called on residents to cooperate with the Authority by bagging and containerising their waste.
He appealed to Lagos residents to patronise assigned PSP operators, whose job is to evacuate waste generated by tenements.
He said that the task of keeping the environment clean was a collective one.
