The Lagos State Government has reopened the Igando dumpsite, with waste management operators assuring residents of improved refuse collection across communities affected by disposal challenges.
The facility is expected to accommodate at least 100 waste trucks daily, a development projected to ease waste disposal difficulties in the Lagos West Senatorial District.
The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, disclosed this on Wednesday during an inspection of the facility in Igando.
Wahab explained that the dumpsite, which had been shut down, was being brought back into operation following discussions between the ministry and waste management operators.
He said the move was part of the state government's emergency measures to address waste management challenges, alongside plans to establish additional disposal facilities in Badagry and Epe.
According to the commissioner, Igando would serve the Lagos West axis, the state's largest geographical zone, while the Olusosun dumpsite would handle waste generated in the eastern part of Lagos.
“If this place achieves what we intend to achieve with it, it shows this address can have at least 100 trucks a day coming to discharge,” he said.
Wahab also called on Private Sector Participation, PSP, operators to improve their collection services, particularly in communities where residents had raised concerns over irregular evacuation of refuse.
“Once they pay for a service, let the PSP operators do the right thing. The right thing is to collect the waste,” he said.
Also speaking during the inspection, the National President of the Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria, AWAMN, Dr Olugbenga Adebola, assured residents of a significant improvement in waste collection across the Alimosho axis.
Adebola said the reopening would address difficulties previously faced by operators in accessing disposal facilities, which had forced some of them to transport collected waste outside Lagos.
“Some months ago, operators had to travel to Sagamu to dump waste. That is over 120 kilometres outside Lagos,” he said.
He added that the association would instruct its members to step up their operations and utilise the restored facility to improve waste evacuation across the affected communities.
The AWAMN president disclosed that the association had a fleet of nearly 700 trucks, noting that the availability of functional disposal facilities was crucial to effective waste collection and transportation.
Adebola appealed to the state government to also rehabilitate three other proposed disposal facilities in Ikorodu, Epe and Badagry.
He said the Igando project was among four disposal sites the association had recommended for rehabilitation.
While commending the government for providing bulldozers and other equipment to support operations at the facility, Adebola noted that waste disposal difficulties could remain in some parts of the state, particularly Ikorodu, where the dumpsite had been closed since mid-September.