New impetus for Cleaner Lagos Initiative as community leaders, others back govt

Increasingly, the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI), a revolutionary move by the state government aimed at ensuring proper waste management in line with international best practice, is gaining fresh impetus as a cross section of residents including market leaders, community leaders and a federal lawmaker, have given their backing to the initiative.

The new initiative comes with an ambitious plan to re-engineer waste management, collection and disposal in the state and, according to Babatunde Adejare, the state Commissioner for the Environment,  the commercial sector in the state would be serviced by licensed waste management operators, while an environmental consortium will provide waste collection, processing and disposal services for residential properties through a long-term concession.

 Over the concession period, the consortium would be deploying a large multi-dimensional fleet of over 20 landfill and transfer loading station management vehicles, 590 new rear-end loader compactors, 140 operational vehicles and close to 900,000 new bins to be electronically tracked and monitored.  The initiative would also facilitate jobs for at least 27,500 residents of the state.

As part of the initiative, the state governor,Akinwunmi Ambode, a few months ago, canceled the monthly environmental sanitation exercise and later signed the Environmental Management and Protection Bill into law and this has been commended by the residents.

Taofeek Adaranjo, a member of the House of Representatives representing Agege Federal Constituency, says there is no question at all about the good intention of government with the initiative, adding that it would help to check the health challenges associated with filthy environment.

 Adaranijo, who was the chairman of Orile-Agege Local Council Development Area (LCDA), noted in an interview that, with the initiative, Governor Ambode has further demonstrated his genuine intention to transform the state and turn it into a mega city in the true sense of the word.

 “Everybody must key into this initiative because it is a good one aimed at ensuring that we have a clean environment. I want to particularly urge the market men and women, those at the Local Government, the Private Sector Participants (PSP) operators and all the people to support government to achieve the purpose of coming up with this very laudable policy; it is better for us to key into it and support government because at the end of the day, the policy is for our greater good,” the lawmaker advised.

Abolaji Ambaliu, the Vice Baba Oja of Igando-Ikotun LCDA, believes the initiative is necessary to comprehensively address the myriad of issues associated with the environment. 

 Ambaliu, who is also the Baba Oja of Irepodun Market, told our reporter that it was now visible to everyone that the environment was becoming too dirty, and government should not fold its arms, hence the laudable initiative.

 “I think the Cleaner Lagos Initiative is a good one and Lagos will be better for it. The money being spent to clear the drains, for instance, is too much and with this initiative, government will channel such fund to other developmental projects;  “all I just want to say is that government should strictly enforce the new law signed as part of the initiative,” Ambaliu said. 

 On his part, Aare Baba Oba of Ikosi Kingdom, Bashorun Tajudeen Jaiyesimi, commended the state government  for the initiative, saying that it could not have come at a better time considering the fact that a reform in waste collection and management in the state was highly needed.