There appears to be an end in sight to the challenge of waste management in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos which is home to about 20 million people. Visionscape Limited, who won the bid to manage waste in Lagos may commit as much as $500m investments into the sector, BusinessDay has learnt.
In a recent meeting with journalists, Samuel Adejare, the Lagos State Commissioner for environment said in many parts of the state, people have started feeling the impact of the Cleaner Lagos Initiative but there are still a few challenges.
“Most of the equipment to be used are not manufactured in Nigeria and they have to be brought in, which is unfortunate. This takes time. It is a huge project, there is no way we will not spend up $500 million on the project. To buy a new compactor alone is about N40 million and we are talking about 500 new compactors and these are things you don’t buy off the shelf, it is when you need it they will start to manufacture it,” said Adejare.
Maimuna Maibe, environmental product and services development manager at Visionscape Limited, in a presentation, said key components of the Cleaner Lagos initiative include residential and street waste collection and processing, provision of engineered sanitary landfill, street sweeping, highway management and marine waste collection.
Maibe also said that black spots around Lagos are being deep-cleaned with plans to extend to many other areas. 900,000 bins are also being provided at strategic locations, along with 140 operational vehicles, 590 new rear-end loader compactors and 20 landfill and transfer loading station management vehicles.
Adejare said that this massive project would be funded by a Public Utility Levy which has been incorporated into the newly passed environmental law of the state. Payment will be based on tenement size with single-room apartments paying far less than those who live in mansions.
“We are all going to pay, nobody can say they are not generating waste, it is part of living so everybody will pay. We will have street managers, who will manage each apartment and I am confident that once good service is rendered, our people will pay,” said the commissioner.
As a comprehensive project, the commissioner said that all kinds of wastes would be managed in the scheme which has integrated the PSP waste managers who had earlier dragged the state to court when Lagos state refused to renew their contracts. To participate however, they would need to show proof that they have the capacity to deliver efficient waste management services.
