Lagos waste evacuation remains work in progress, Sanwo-Olu’s wife says

By Adeola Ogunrinde

The First Lady of Lagos State, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, has said that the Lagos State Government is working on new strategies to improve waste evacuation and reduce delays in clearing refuse across the state.

Sanwo-Olu spoke on Saturday while monitoring the monthly environmental sanitation exercise in Mafoluku, Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area, alongside the wife of the Deputy Governor, Oluremi Hamzat, Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment, Engr. Olakunle Rotimi-Akodu, and members of the state’s Body of Permanent Secretaries.

Her comments followed complaints from some residents about delays in the evacuation of refuse from their neighbourhoods, with some expressing concern over the accumulation of waste in their surroundings.

According to Sanwo-Olu, one of the major challenges affecting timely evacuation is the long turnaround time for waste trucks at disposal sites, which limits the number of trips the vehicles can make to collect refuse from communities.

“The turnaround time for the trucks to evacuate their waste at the dumpsites takes quite a while. They can queue for like two to three days before they dump and depart from the landfill site,” she said.

She added that the state government was developing a new approach to waste disposal and management to address the delays, while urging residents to support the process by separating recyclable materials and other categories of waste at the point of generation.

Meanwhile, Rotimi-Akodu said public participation in the monthly sanitation exercise had gradually improved, noting that more residents were voluntarily coming out to clean their homes and streets compared with the early stages of the initiative.

Similarly, the Head of Service, Olabode Agoro, who led another monitoring team to Lagos Mainland Local Government Area, urged residents to take greater responsibility for their surroundings and make environmental cleanliness a daily practice. He said the exercise, which has been ongoing for more than six months, was gradually recording increased participation across communities.