State waste toll hits 13,000 metric tonnes daily

DOMESTIC waste generated in Lagos State has hit an all time high of 13,000 metric tonnes daily.
 
The Lagos State ‎Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) made this disclosure, even as it frowned at improper waste disposal across the state.
 
The Managing Director of LAWMA, Mr. AbdulWahab Ogunbiyi (an engineer), said efforts were being made to design a technological device to cope with the new challenge.
 
Ogunbiyi, who noted that the increasing population of the megacity brought about the increase in waste generation, said a lot could still be done to control indiscriminate waste dumping among the residents if people change their attitude towards waste disposal. 
 
“We have to change our attitude in the way we dispose off our waste. People still throw empty plastic bottle of table water on the road while driving. Many people still throw dirt from their vehicles on the road at will. These are parts of the attitudinal challenges we are facing at LAWMA. But we won’t stop sensitising our people.
 
“We will start going to the markets and parks to meet with market leaders and leaders of drivers’ union to educate their members on the danger of improper waste disposal because any waste dump on the road becomes the state government commodity, which must be managed,” ‎he said.
 
He described waste policing initiative, an initiative of the state government to discourage waste dumping and facilitate support for prompt waste collection, adding that the essence of the programme is to prevent illegal refuse dump at road junctions and other unapproved places in the state.