Residents in a coastal community in Nigeria are to be offered healthcare provision in return for collecting large amounts of plastic waste.
The initiative is part of work by the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) which has extended its campaign on clean air and a sustainable environment to Ibeshe, a coastal community in Oriade Local Council Development Area of the State.
And, separately the Lagos Waste Management Authority has spoken of the need for residents to pay their waste collection bills. Both the collection bills topic and the plastic waste topics have been raised earlier this month (September 2022).
For the plastics work in the Oriade area, the Permanent Secretary, Office of Environmental Services at the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Omobolaji Gaji, spoke to residents encouraging them to avoid air pollution through the burning of trees, refuse or plastics.
Representatives at a campaign meeting to promote plastic waste collection and recycling in Oriade area
Mr Gaji, represented at the event by the Director, Climate Change and Environmental Planning, Bankole Michael, added that the government encouraged people to be environmentally conscious and avoid air pollution, pointing out that pollution is not friendly to human beings and the environment.
He informed that the campaign against air pollution is in collaboration with other relevant stakeholders, including the Lagos Waste Management Authority, Lagos State Coconut Development Authority, Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency, Lagos State Health Management Authority, Lagos State Waterways Authority and Lagos Ferry Services.
Lagoon
The Permanent Secretary maintained that lbeshe, an island located between Amuwo-Odofin and Badagry, needs more than cursory attention considering its location between the lagoon and the sea, and advised the residents to desist from inappropriate disposal of waste.
While stressing that such practices portend great danger to the health of families and the environment, he promised that the State Government will continue to educate and raise awareness on a healthy, friendly environment while encouraging the residents to embrace acceptable environmental attitudes, the .
The General Manager of LASEPA, Dr Dolapo Fasawe, said that the agency has deployed different strategies to internalise the message of Clean Air among all residents through the use of drama, poetry, board games and songs in an entertaining manner.
In order to curb the trend of rising sea levels, urgent attention must be paid to global warming – Dr Dolapo Fasawe
Dr Fasawe explained that the State Government realised that in order to curb the trend of rising sea levels, urgent attention must be paid to global warming and climate change through constant advocacy and recycling of non-degradable materials
She added that apart from the different information and communication tools which the State Government is using to engage Lagosians, LASEPA has also introduced incentives which involve the exchange of wastes for environmental friendly-materials and cash as a way of protecting the ecosystem and by extension protecting human lives.
Appealing to residents on the proper disposal of non-degradable plastic wastes, which constitute a major bane to environmental protection and sustainability, she revealed that LASEPA is partnering with LASHMA to give health insurance to residents in exchange for bags of plastic waste.
According to Dr Fasawe: “30 bags of used plastic bottles can qualify a family of four for a one-year free medical care under the State Health Insurance Scheme.”
The Oriade advocacy campaign has also the exchange of trash for cash and the exchange of trash for environmental friendly materials like cooking gas, reusable cups and food among others
Lagos
In Lagos, the Managing Director/CEO of Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Ibrahim Odumboni, has called on residents to support efforts of the Authority to rid the environment of filth by paying their waste bills promptly.
Mr Ibrahim Odumboni, CEO of the Lagos Waste Management Authority
Mr Odumboni said payment for waste services is “very crucial to achieving the State’s vision of establishing a cleaner and liveable environment”, adding that no one is exempted from paying waste bills, regardless of occupation or societal status.
He said: “We want to appeal to all residents to make it a duty to pay their waste bills. This is very important because service providers’ operations rely heavily on people paying for waste services. As a matter of fact, nobody is exempted from this, including civil servants.
“For the sake of emphasis, no section of the Civil Service Rules exempts government workers from paying for services rendered by PSP operators. This applies to every other profession. We must take responsibility for the change we want to see in our environment. Anyone caught dumping indiscriminately under the guise of belonging to a particular profession would be made to face the wrath of the law.”
The LAWMA boss reiterated the Authority’s commitment to ensuring that every part of the metropolis is properly sanitised, adding that the agency had stepped up efforts to rid the environment of waste backlog, through intensive morning and night operations.
Mr Odumboni said: “We deploy thousands of sweepers and waste collection trucks daily, across major routes in the city, as well as ensure that waste generated by tenements is taken care of by PSP operators. We want to assure Lagosians that we will not relent on our efforts to make the environment cleaner and healthier for all”.
According to the CEO, the Authority is also working with other sister agencies, such as Neighbourhood Watch and Motor Vehicle Administration Agency (MVAA), to check waste migration, a situation where some residents move wastes generated at home in their vehicles and dump while transiting to another point.
The CEO called on the populace to embrace the culture of recycling and waste sorting from the source which, apart from saving the environment from plastic pollution, has numerous economic benefits.
He admonished residents to always bag and containerise their waste while waiting for the arrival of assigned PSP operators, maintaining that the practice of waste containerisation would eventually help curb littering and indiscriminate refuse disposal around the city.
Useful links
https://lagosstate.gov.ng/blog/2022/08/30/no-one-is-exempted-from-paying-waste-bills-lawma/
https://lagosstate.gov.ng/blog/2022/09/11/lasepa-takes-clean-air-campaign-to-coastal-community/
