HEAVY RAINS WORSEN WASTE COLLECTION

Abolaji Adebayo

Heavy rains pelting roofs with ice crystals and inflicting flash floods which slow traffic are making it more difficult to evacuate and deposit waste.

The Nigerian Metereological Agency had, in February, this year, alerted the country of impending heavy rains in the rainy seasons, warning governments and citizens to prepare and prevent activities that might worsen the predictable impact of the rains.

In recent times, the agency has reiterated the predictions and continues to hold broadcasts and issue press statements of three-day predictions to sensitise Nigerians to changes in the weather.

This week, pocket of rains is expected in Lagos and other inner cities with cloudy skies, and thunderstorms as the city’s temperature hovers around 35 degrees celcius.

As the rains enter drains and snake through gutters on their way to the seas, many Lagosians throw their waste into the flood not bothered where it would stop or if it would block the flow.

Worried by the habit, The Lagos State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, had to warn residents to desist.

In a press statement in August, it warned: “While assuring you of our total commitment to our filial duties and responsibility, we want to use this medium to once again, ask Lagosians and tenements not to dump refuse indiscriminately in unauthorised places, patronise our assigned PSP operators and pay your waste bills promptly, for better and efficient waste management delivery in order to ensure a sustainably cleaner environment.”

Plastics, a particular type of waste, has come under serious focus because, unlike other wastes, it threatens marine life.

This concern was expressed by the Hon. Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello.

At a briefing on the rainfall pattern to expect in Lagos in September, Bello declared that plastic waste has become a problem for the state.

He announced plans to partner with the plastic producers to share the burden of managing the crises.

The bad habit of throwing waste into drains, gutters and canals during the rains means the state’s private sector waste managers, known as PSP, still has a lot to convince the residents to allow them pick their waste for a fee.

It is believed that most of those throwing their waste are trying to avoid giving them to the PSP and paying for the service.

This seems to have increased since the operators raised their rates to cover inflationary costs in the economy.

The development is undermining LAWMA’s bold attempt to keep Lagos clean.

Last month, it unveiled a new strategy to expand the fleet of the PSP operators by using the new waste collection trucks and double Dino Bins injected into the fleet by Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu.

Its words: “Some of those old LAWMA collection trucks would be boarded to some of the PSP operators, whose trucks were destroyed during the unfortunate EndSARS protest, to support their operations, increase their capacity for better service delivery and optimal performance. A committee has been constituted in this regards in order to ensure transparency and that due process followed, just like the previous one which had already been completed.”

However, even when the PSP operators succeed in evacuating waste from homes, they often have a hard time discharging them at the landfill sites.

There the heavy rains have softened the muddy terrain making the tires of the vehicles slip or get stuck for days.

LAWMA, in its recent release, assured that it was working on the challenge, assuring that there would be progress.

It said: “Another major component of the Authority’s operational drive is the landfill rehabilitation.

“The major landfills scattered all over the state are currently undergoing rehabilitation process which has really affected our operations and a noticeable feature is the presence of traffic around the areas.

“It is of note that the rehabilitation of these landfills, especially capping, road networks, upgrading and the like actually started around March this year, but unfortunately, activities were greatly hampered due to the rains and the process was forced to stop by the end of April/May, due to the bad and unfriendly weather.

“Work has, however, resumed in earnest on the landfills, taking advantage of the August break and we want to assure Lagosians that, in the next ten days, the exercise will be completed and the good news is that, the turn-around time will radically improve and the traffic snarl around those landfills, triggered by the rehabilitation works will disappear.”

There are about 400 PSPs managing 57 Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas under the supervision of the LAWMA.

Together, they pick 14,000 metric tonnes of waste daily.

Stakeholders believe the enforcement of the sanitation laws of the state needs improvement.

They cite the persistence of cart pushers despite government campaigns against them and the feeble effort put into charging those owing PSP money or not complying with the sanitation law to the courts.