The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has commenced a three-day training for some staff members of Ekiti State Waste Management Authority (EKSWAMA), on professional approach to waste management.
The EKSWAMA team, led by its Director-General, Mr Olasunkanmi Onipede, was received by the Managing Director/CEO of LAWMA, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin and his management team.
Welcoming them at LAWMA headquarters, Ijora Olopa, Gbadegesin expressed his delight, stressing that the Authority was always open to resource sharing, just as it had done with other states and some West African countries, on modern waste management techniques.
His words, “LAWMA, was initially established in 1977 as a refuse collection board but the current structure of the authority came about in 1999. The incumbent president of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who was the Governor of Lagos State then restructured LAWMA to a scientific and professional waste management authority.
“Since then, LAWMA keeps coming up with new innovations. Managing the waste of 23 million people who generate 13 tonnes of waste daily is not a child’s play, we continue to learn, unlearn and relearn in the process of waste management”
“Today, we have incorporated over 400 PSPs, who have at least two compactors each to evacuate household waste across the state. Currently, LAWMA is working round the clock and transiting from a linear into a circular economy system, embracing the reduce, reuse and recycle model. This is the best place you can come to learn, as we have the best hands who will share both theoretical and practical insights about waste management with you. I assure you that at the end of the three days training, you will still have to come back for more,’’ he noted.
Responding, the Director-General of EKSWAMA, Mr. Olasunkanmi Onipede, noted that the purpose of the training was to understudy LAWMA’s waste management operation, which according to him, was worth emulating, in order to be replicated in Ekiti State.
He said: “Coming from a state where we manage the waste of nearly 3.5 million people to Lagos State where over 23 million residents’ waste is managed, means that we are in the right place to learn from. What we are concerned about, is how we can replicate Lagos Waste Management system in Ekiti State.”
“From all we have seen, we are optimistic that this training is just a step to more partnerships with LAWMA. We are ready to drink from your wealth of knowledge and get EKSWAMA’s regulations right. We are glad to be here and thank you for having us.”
Also speaking, LAWMA’s Head of PSP Domestic Services, Dr. Tunde Suleiman, who took the team through the first lecture on general overview of solid waste management principles and practices, highlighted the processes involved in waste management from the collection to the disposal.
He said: “The waste management sector keeps evolving and that is why in LAWMA, we emphasise environmental best practices in the industry. A lot of processes are involved, from the collection of waste to the treatment, transportation and disposal stages, as the Authority manages different types of waste ranging from hazardous, commercial, recyclable, organic, healthcare, as well as domestic waste.”
Sulaiman however, noted that the Authority had adopted advocacy and sensitisation as essential tools in managing waste in a megacity like Lagos, adding that sensitising the people complemented LAWMA’s operational efforts.
“If we have to roll out all the compactors we have to evacuate waste in public spaces, we will still be in need of more and that is too expensive to fund. Therefore, we adopted continuous advocacy and sensitisation, in order to work on the mindset of people, our focus is attitudinal change. If residents embrace a positive change towards the environment, we won’t have to be clearing the roads every day. So, the challenge we have is residents’ poor attitude to the environment. Enforcement on the other hand is always a last result’’. he stressed
The director of Medical Health and Safety Services, Dr. Mrs. Modupe Okoh, gave the general safety talk, while the director of Public Affairs, Mrs. Folashade Kadiri, took the team through the schedule of activities of the three-day training. The team were also shown short documentaries of LAWMA’s activities.
The Three days training would cover all the core areas of the Authority’s waste management system; ranging from operations, landfill management, advocacy, Admin and Human resource, Circular Economy, waste management finance, environmental health, legal services, monitoring and compliance among others. Field trips will be undertaken to Olusosun landfill, waste to energy plant at IKosi-Ketu and LAWMA Mushin operational district.
