Lagos State Government has reaffirmed its commitment to a comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach to ensure a clean, resilient and livable city, dispelling viral insinuations that the state is dirty.

The state’s Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a statement, yesterday, said: “Lagos is not “smelling.” It is evolving toward sustainable waste processing, modernised landfill management, cleaner waterways and structured sanitation systems.

He noted that the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu remains steadfast in its commitment to building a cleaner and more sustainable city through strategic environmental initiatives.

Wahab, who gave the assurance that the state government is fully committed to environmental sustainability and had developed a comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach to ensure a clean, resilient and livable city, said: “Waste and sanitation challenges in a rapidly growing mega city like Lagos require structural solutions – not sound bites or political rhetorics.

The commissioner said that in line with the state’s THEMES plus agenda, LAWMA had expanded waste collection services to hard-to-reach communities, and in partnership with Ibeju Lekki Local Council, tricycle compactors have been introduced to provide waste collection services on a pay-as-you-go model in areas with non-motorable roads.

He also said that the model would be expanded later this year with the introduction of 500 tricycle compactors across similar areas. Wahab said that within the next 18 months, the state would close Olusosun and Solous 3 landfills, transitioning them into modern transfer Loading stations where waste will be sorted, compacted and redirected to recycling facilities.

According to him, Lagos is also advancing its waste-to-energy project in Epe that will process 2,500 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily and generate 60-80 megawatts of electricity, contributing clean energy to the Lagos power grid.

Wahab maintained that in the past two years, industrial effluent discharge into the Lagos waterways had reduced by 25 per cent owing to the consistency of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) in regulating their discharge through permits, fines, penalties and outright publicised seals.

He also stated that the state is already implementing bio-remediation techniques to improve surface water quality through natural purification processes to improve the quality of water in the lagoon and canals.

The commissioner, who also disclosed that as part of the street sanitation exercise, 15,000 street sweepers are daily deployed across highways, inner roads and markets as well as stronger enforcement of environmental laws, stated that the state government is also partnering with local councils and local council development areas to maintain the over 1,710 public toilets across parks, markets and residential areas.