By Celephina Onovo
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State and the State’s House of Assembly are heading for a major course because of waste disposal in the state.
The popular view during the lawmakers plenary on Thursday was that Governor Ambode’s Visionscape has failed and should be replaced.
The lawmakers also suggested that a proper policy on waste disposal should be articulated for Lagos State.
On Thursday, the Lagos State House of Assembly ordered the immediate return of Private Sector Partnership (PSP), and disowned the Visionscape believed to be enjoying the backing of Ambode.
The Lagos State House of Assembly ordered the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state to call on the PSP operators in their areas to go back to refuse packing job with immediate effect.
Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, who gave this directive on Thursday on behalf of the lawmakers during plenary also ordered the Clerk of the House, Azeez Sanni to invite the Commissioner for Environment, Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti to appear before the House on the matter next week.
Gbolahan Yishawu (Eti-Osa Constituency 1) had raised a matter of Urgent Matter of Public Importance on heaps of refuse littered all over the state.
The Speaker emphasised that the Lagos State Government does not know about Visionscape, an organisation engaged by Ambode.
Obasa reasoned that there are three arms of government including legislative, executive and judiciary and that the executive ought to have consulted the House on Visionscape before they started operation.
Obasa explained: “We insist that we don’t know anything about Visionscape because we were not consulted before they started work.
“We once wrote the Commissioner for Finance, Hon. Akinyemi Ashade not to pay Visionscape again and he would return any money he paid to them after our instruction to the coffers of the state government. We will go to that when the time comes but we have to do the needful now.
“We are calling on the 20 local governments and 37 LCDAs in the state to have meetings with the PSP operators to go back to work and they should start paying them and make the residents to start paying the operators. We have to avoid epidemics and be proactive.”
The Speaker also warned those stopping people from dumping refuse at the dumpsites to desist from doing so, adding that he saw a lot of refuse trucks in a bad state and that some of them have been abandoned.
Obasa insisted that the House ought to have approved the new refuse disposal policy of the state government before Visionscape started work.
“We are inviting the Commissioner for the Environment to come and report to us within one week. The Clerk should write all the local councils in the state to do the needful and the Commissioner for the Environment should work on this and report to us in a week,” the speaker said.
Yishawu had said that there were several heaps of refuse on Lagos roads, adding that they were not like before “because some PSP are now working and the state government has bought some trucks.”
He said: “Some refuse are taken to Epe and Ikorodu but it is a bit far now as 300 instead of 800 trucks now dispose refuse.
“We used to dump the refuse in Olusosun, but the place was gutted by fire. We can give the place to private companies.
“The sanitary land fill in Epe is not being utilised and the transfer loading stations too are not working effectively and the turn around time of packing the refuse is not being utilised.
“It is not all the PSP operators that are working. May be we can recall the PSP Operators and reopen Olusosun and the land fill sites should be operated properly.”
Majority Leader of the House, Sanai Agunbiade (Ikorodu Constituency 1) revealed that heaps of refuse are worse in his area, and that for the state to have good sanitation, a law on environmental sanitation was passed in Lagos State, but that it seemed it was not properly done after that.
Agunbiade said: “The refuse on the road and on the streets are hazardous to the people. Flies from the refuse mix with the food people are eating.
“One day, Olusosun would not be able to accommodate refuse any longer. It would be better if we can change our policy on refuse disposal.
“I will suggest that we should challenge those in the Ministry of Health and those in the Ministry of the Environment.
“We can invite the people in the Ministry of the Environment to know their challenges. This has become an eyesore in Lagos State. We should invite the people in charge.”
According to Adebisi Yusuff (Alimosho Constituency 1) eight people have died in Igando, where they dump refuse in his area.
Yusuff stressed that Visionscape does not know the job, and that they did not even allow PSP operators to help the people.
“There are big rats on the roads now and they could even make a vehicle to stumble.
“We should look at it critically. They are not picking any refuse in the state. It is an important matter that should be handled urgently,” he said.
In his comment, Abiodun Tobun (Epe Constitueny 1) stated that Lagos State is dirty and that only God would help the state.
He said that Epe was not benefiting from the system and that their water has been contaminated and that all their roads are now bad.
“There is no industrial estate in Epe, but they have in other places. They cannot bring refuse dump to Epe, they can relocate it if that is what we are benefiting. We want better things in Epe such as industries and other things,” he said.
Noheem Adams representing Eti Osa Constituency 1 said that there are refuse in many places in his area.
He stated that in the days of PSP, people knew when they would pack their refuse outside. We should invite both the commissioner and LAWMA officials as well as the local government. We should be able to do our best because we need the people’s vote now.
Other lawmakers – Oluyinka Ogundimu (Agege Constituency 2), Saka Solaja (Ikorodu Constituency 2), the Deputy Speaker, Wasiu Eshinlokun-Sanni (Lagos Island 1), the Chief Whip, Rotimi Abiru (Shomolu 1) and Hon. Abdulsobur Olayiwola (Mushin), all corroborated what their colleagues said.