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LAWMA plans waste evacuation through rail

By on May 8, 2013

The Lagos State Waste Management Authority has disclosed plans to start moving solid waste through the rail before 2020.

The Managing Director, LAWMA, Mr. Ola Oresanya, disclosed this during a courtesy visit to the headquarters of Punch Nigeria Limited, the Punch Place, in Ogun State on Tuesday.

Oresanya, who led an eight-man delegation, said the move was part of LAWMA’s 15-year road map, which began in 2005.

“Before the end of 2020, we will include rail transportation in the movement of waste. Some of our transfer loading stations will be located close to rail stations where we are going to be moving bulk waste to the disposal point,” he said.

According to him, LAWMA has over the years improved on road transportation of waste with cleaner trucks and drivers, hence the need to venture into other more efficient means of evacuating waste.

“When you see our waste trucks now, you won’t know they are carrying waste. Waste disposal trucks now carry adverts and you see ladies driving them. We have 40 ladies driving those trucks. We have improved on it as a key area,” he said.

Oresanya said LAWMA also planned to add 17 more transfer loading stations to the three in existence to help manage the growing tonnage of waste in the state.

He said the organisation had zero tolerance for litters on roads and inner streets, and currently had over 12,000 people sweeping Lagos highways.

He said, “We still have a demand gap for people who will cover the inner streets. We have zero tolerance for litters on the streets and that signals the direction we are going. We plan to keep every backyard litter free in Lagos.

“Waste management is a major tool for economic reform that can create jobs. We have already generated 25,000 direct jobs through the reform programme of waste management in the state.”

He said LAWMA had also introduced a tipping fee for people to pay a token for dumping their refuse and help the state to account for the amount of waste it was generating on daily basis.

 

 

 

[Punch]