Lagos LCDA Chairman tasks residents on cleaner environment

The Chairman, Ikate-Itire Local Council Development Area, Dr Ahmed Apatira, on Thursday advised residents to rid the environment of illegal dumpsites, by shunning reckless waste disposal.

Apatira gave the advice at a stakeholders’ meeting on solid waste management at the council secretariat, Ijeshatedo, Lagos.

The event was organised in conjunction with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority.

Apatira, who was represented at the occasion by the Secretary to the Local Government, Mr Kehinde Baruwa, charged shop owners to pay their waste bills promptly.

He said that prompt settlement of the bills would ensure a smooth running of the operations of the waste managers.

According to him, community development associations can raise a formidable waste policing team to enforce that objective.

“We enjoin the people to shun indiscriminate dumping of refuse into canals and drainage channels; residents should key into recycling by separating their waste at source, to make additional income.”

The Managing Director, Lagos State Waste Management Authority, Mr Ibrahim Odunbomi, said that the time had come for the agency to collaborate with residents and relevant stakeholders to rid the area of filthiness.

Odunbomi, who was represented by the Director of Finance, Mr Adekunle Adebiyi, said that a new regime of cleanliness and sustainable environment had come to stay in the area.

“We will start by ensuring that a transfer loading station is sited at any conducive environment, once the council chairman can provide us with land for easy evacuation of waste by the operators.

“This will increase the turnaround time and improve the aesthetics of the local government and environs,” he said.

Odunbomi appealed to the participants to embrace the culture of waste sorting at source, to reduce pressure on landfills in the state.