Cart pushers defy refuse law

• 6 illegal dumpsites thrive
• Weak enforcement
• Pushers make N2,500 daily

By Edith Igbokwe, Damilola Kushimo, Sunday Ogundiran and Olushola Okewole

Cart pushers, also tagged “akole” in Local parlance has sustained defiance of the Lagos State refuse management law since the introduction of the Private Sector Participants (PSP) to take over the waste management in Lagos State.

The bad news, dear readers, is that they are winning!

Their success is measured by the presence of six illegal dump sites in the Isolo and Ejigbo LCDAs of the Oshodi-Isolo Local Government raising issues about. The dangers of indiscriminate disposal of refuse to the residents.

The chickens are indeed coming home to roost, no thanks to the recent outbreak of cholera which has reportedly sent a couple to their early graves and has caused the state government to set up emergency operations.( see Cholera Orphan Cry for Help)

Following the introduction of the private sector to the waste management subsystem of Lagos Statein 2004, the government declared zero tolerance for cart pushers and even made a law making patronage of cart pushers an offence punishable by law.

Fifteen years later, defiance of the law persists posing more dangers to public health.

There are more than six dump sites in Ejigbo and Isolo where cart pushers dump the refuse collected from neigbourhoods whose residents are refusing to patronise government licensed operators.

Apart from operating as illegal dump sites, the locations also serve as markets for used kegs, cartons, plastics and recruitment of cheap labour.

Some of the sites are allegedly hideouts for some hoodlums who terrorise the communities.

In Isolo, there is a dumpsite at Oke-Afa which serves as source of income for some unauthorized people collecting fee from those cart pushers before they are allowed to dump their refuse.

ECHONEWS gathered that a cart pusher pays between N200 and N500 to dump his refuse depending on the size of the cart.

Though at times, the refuse is burnt overnight, sometimes it is disposed indiscriminately.

ECHONEWS also observed that the site has been turned to a community where different categories of people reside and make their livelihood.

It was gathered that the place is being managed by groups of people as there is chairman for each tribe living there and even association with tags for individuals, that is, numbers for identification.

One of their leaders told ECHONEWS that ever before the association came up they only had one head who was the Seriki. Whenever something was stolen and it was found in the site and the owner came to identity it, it would be returned.

“It is more of a collection centre where those who pick up scraps of iron, aluminum, plastic and other scraps come to trade it for money. It was initially built for abattoir before it was turned to a dumpsite and now more of a collection centre. There are places for accommodation there, there is electricity there. That place is even more of a community on its own. It’s been managed overall by indigenes. They don’t litter the place anymore, anyone caught will be punished,” a community leader in Isolo who does not want his name in print told ECHONEWS.

People usually come with big trucks to buy plastics bottles from them and they in turn sell to companies in need of them.

Also, cartons are packed and measured in kilos and sold to buyers who as well take them to companies for recycling.

It was equally gathered that the dumpsite located at Abodunrin Peter Street, Off Otenaike Street, Ejigbo which formerly housed about 200 cart pushers and scavengers separating waste to sell has been bought over and cleared by an individual.

The scavengers have now been evacuated from the site which had earlier caused the residents to panic.

It was also discovered that for some time now the plot of land which was a water area used as a dumping ground at Adebodun Peter Street, Ejigbo close to Ona-Iwa Mimo Street is no longer used for such activities.

A warning sign post has been erected to warn people against dumping refuse at the site.

Initially, the owner of the plot of land allowed the refuse to be dumped there to fill up the land before erecting building on it.

It was also said that the refuse was used to make the road near canal passable and as well to block the water coming out of the canal when it rained in order to have access to the community.

However, the dumping has been stopped as confirmed by the people living in the area.

ECHONEWS learned that the cart pushers have moved to Ona-Ara Street where they now dump their refuse, paying N200 per cart to the acclaimed land owners (omo onile) who claimed to own the land.

One Mallam Bello, one of the cart pushers, said the carts were always rented to them at the rate of N150 per day and N1,200 per month.

The Ona-Ara dumpsite has become the major site for the dumping of refuse in Ejigbo as most of others have been taken over.

For instance, the dumpsite at the extreme end of Pastor Ojediran Street, Ejigbo has been cordoned off by the homeowners and stakeholders of the community, putting a stop to such activities in the area.

The reason for stopping such activities in the environment according to the residents was to stop the trash deposited by cart pushers blocking the flow of water and causing erosion that destroyed the landscape.

A leader in the community, Comr. Olabiran Dayo, said the landlord associations of the community and the landowners (Omo Onile) have come into agreement that the dumping in the community would be stopped by January 2020.

Another dumpsite is located behind Atinuke Shopping Complex, Cele Bus stop, Isolo.

A part of the site has been turned to residence where some of the squatters who engage in selling of scraps such as used kegs, used clothes and other used plastic and metal materials to those who recycle them.

At Taiwo Street, along Ago-Okota Road, the refuse being dumped by the cart pushers were discovered to be used by some of the residents to fill their lands.

ECHONEWS gathered that the cart pushers made about N2,500 daily after paying for the cart and the toll at the dumpsite.

One of the cart pushers who refused to mention his name said sometimes they lost their carts to the officers of environmental sanitation corps from the local government as they were occasionally arrested.

Our investigation at the courts showed that cases concerning the cart pushers and illegal dumping of refuse are rarely brought  to the court for trial.

On enquiry, it was discovered that the set of people who patronized the cart pushers were majorly food sellers, shop owners, flat occupants and many others living in the rented ‘face me, I face you’ apartments.

One of them in Isolo told ECHONEWS that many of them engaged the service of the cart pushers because the PSP rarely came to their areas.

He complained that the PSP might not come more than once in a month, adding that they were also given higher bills than the service they were rendered by the PSP.

According to him, the cart pushers charged as less as N50 depending on the size of the refuse and they (the cart pushers) came around often to cart away their refuse.

However, the activities of cart pushers have been totally eradicated in Oshodi community as people refused to patronize them.

Since the PSP operation came on board, the cart pushers have been forced out of the community as confirmed by the residents.

Our correspondent who went round the community gathered that some of the dumpsites in Oshodi have been taken over.

For instance, it was gathered that the former dumpsite along Mafoluku-Airport Road has been taken over by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and has since evacuated the refuse.

The residents told ECHONEWS that cart pushers cannot be found in Oshodi axis because (PSP) services are fully in charge of the four corners of the community.

All efforts to get reaction from the Lagos State Environmental sanitation Corps (LAGESC) proved abortive as the Corps Public Affairs Unit, Mr. Kehinde Adebayo refused to comment on the issue as at the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, an official of environmental sanitation corps from local government, who prefers anonymity, said they normally arrest the cart pushers especially when they are found collecting refuse on the streets during environmental sanitation period