By: Tijani Salako.
The Lagos Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, has disengaged some street sweepers, their supervisors and the service provider handling the Oworonshoki-Beger axis after investigations confirmed their involvement in indiscriminate waste dumping.
The Managing Director/CEO of LAWMA, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, who disclosed this at the weekend, said the decision followed sustained surveillance of the median, which had become a recurring waste blackspot, and the confession of the sweepers involved.
According to him, the action was necessary to uphold standards and ensure that personnel engaged to keep Lagos clean do not contribute to environmental problems.
“Our responsibility is to keep Lagos clean, and everyone involved in that responsibility must play their part. Where our investigations establish that anyone is contributing to the problem, appropriate action will be taken. There will be no exceptions,” Gbadegesin stated.
He added that LAWMA will continue to investigate waste hotspots and sanction anyone found culpable, regardless of their role in the waste management chain.
In a related development, LAWMA’s enforcement team arrested two suspected illegal waste dumpers in the Berger-Oworonshoki area. One of them, Timileyin Ojo, a male load carrier, was caught allegedly using a wheelbarrow to dump waste on the road median. The second suspect, a cart pusher, was apprehended for alleged unauthorised waste collection in the same area.
The suspects have been taken to the Oshodi Task Force Office, Mobile Court, for further investigation and prosecution in line with Lagos State environmental laws.
Gbadegesin urged residents, businesses and waste collectors to patronise only assigned Private Sector Participants, PSPs, and to dispose of waste through approved channels. He stressed that waste management personnel and service providers must meet the same standards expected of other stakeholders.
The Authority said it will sustain surveillance along the Berger-Oworonshoki axis and other identified hotspots, with further enforcement actions to follow where violations are established.
LAWMA also called on residents to report cases of indiscriminate dumping and unauthorised waste collection through appropriate channels to support efforts toward a cleaner Lagos.
