22nd May, 2017
The implementation of the much-awaited new environmental policy of the Lagos State Government otherwise known as the Cleaner Lagos State (CLI) would commence in July, Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Babatunde Adejare has said.
Responding to concerns raised by a renowned economist and Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company Ltd, Mr Bismarck Rewane about the state of the environment especially with regards to solid waste management, Adejare said when implemented, the new environmental initiative would revolutionize and revitalize the sector in line with global best practice.
Rewane, who spoke on Monday as a guest lecturer at a Special Parliamentary Session organised by the Lagos State House of Assembly to mark the Lagos@50 celebrations and the second-year anniversary of the 8th Assembly, had said for Lagos to occupy its pride of place, the issue of environmental management must be properly addressed especially in the light of the setback recorded recently.
But Adejare, while responding to the concerns, said the CLI would be implemented in July 2017, and that the initiative had been designed to frontally and comprehensively address all issues connecting the environment.
According to him, “One of the first things Governor Akinwunmi Ambode did upon coming on board was to think about how to address the issue of environmental management. Even before I was appointed Commissioner, the Governor has been thinking about it. As we speak, we have put in place the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI).
“We are going to roll out the initiative by the grace of God by first week in July. Under the initiative, every part of the waste management sector in the State will be affected significantly and we are going to do this according to international best practice. That I can assure the people,” Adejare said.
Governor Ambode had signed the new Environmental Management and Protection Law, to give the new policy the legal teeth to function efficiently.
The State Government also assembled a consortium of global leaders in waste management led by Visionscape to manage waste collection and disposal, using ultra-modern facilities while still empowering the Private Sector Participants (PSPs) to play key roles in the waste collection process.
Speaking further on the policy, Adejare said the initiative was in line with the vision of Governor Ambode to make Lagos a clean, secure and more prosperous State with a robust economy built on service, equity and justice.
Under the initiative, the State Government in partnership with Visionscape, would provide a twice-weekly service with 600 brand new compactors and 900,000 electronically tracked bins, while transfer loading stations/material recovery facilities in Agege, Oshodi and Simpson, as well as waste depots in Mushin, Ogudu and Simpson would be rehabilitated and transformed to world class standards.
While the existing dump sites would be closed to give way for construction of engineered sanitary landfills, the CLI would also bring about over 40,000 new dignified jobs.
Aside the issue of flooding which would be tackled headlong all-year-round, the CLI was also designed to protect public health, local and global environment, and improve the aesthetics of the State through significantly cleaner communities, roads and highways.