- Waste Managers Lament State of Lagos Dumpsites
Wastes may soon find their way back to Lagos streets and roads as major dumpsites across the state have become unmanageable in recent times, waste managers have said.
When our correspondent visited one of the landfills at Igando area of the state on Friday, it was observed that the roads to the major dump areas had become almost impassable and truck drivers were in a queue to enter the dumpsite and empty their trucks, stretching up to the nearby general hospital.
One of the truck drivers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he slept in his vehicle overnight, and as of 11am, he had yet to dump the waste he brought to the site.
He said, “This affects our efficiency as waste managers because our vehicles spend days just trying to evacuate wastes, meaning that we are not able to go back and pick more wastes, which we used to do about three to four times daily, and our clients are complaining.
“We used to have one long queue in the past and it was manageable; but now, everything has become chaotic that trucks even park on the road. The other day, I got here by 11am and did not leave until 6pm.”
According to him, apart from the delay, the slippery roads leading to the dumpsites damage the trucks, adding that some waste managers had lost their trucks in the process.
Another driver, who gave his name as Babatunde, said it had become impossible for him to plan his day because of the delays, adding that on the average, he spends six hours daily at the dumpsite.
Explaining the reason for the delays, Babatunde said the Olusosun landfill had four bulldozers that push the wastes into the pits as they are dumped, but the number had been reduced to one or two sometimes.
“These are the same bulldozers that are used to push our trucks whenever they sink in the muddy road, and they damage the trucks in the process because they are not designed for that kind of job,” he said.
Our correspondent gathered that the state government had the responsibility of managing the Olusosun and Igando landfills, the two major dumpsites in the state, but recently outsourced it to private companies due to the financial burden.
Some stakeholders who spoke said the companies introduced a fee of N2, 000 every time a truck comes to dump refuse so as to help manage the sites.
The consultant to the Association of Waste Managers, Mr. Lekan Owojori of Wellbeck Consulting Limited, told our correspondent, “We agreed reluctantly, but our vehicles still spend days just trying to evacuate wastes. The N2,000 was supposed to improve services but we haven’t seen any improvement.
“The nature of the job is that a vehicle should not spend more than 20 minutes so that more wastes can be collected. A driver should be able to make three trips a day or more.”
The waste managers also alleged that some security operatives had been employed from the Odua Peoples Congress to guard the sites, but that they derived pleasure from harassing truck drivers whenever they complained about the long queue.
“Whenever I visit Olusosun, even if I spend eight hours, I try to comport myself because I don’t want anybody to harass or beat me up,” a driver said.
He said a number of truck drivers had been beaten up and hospitalised in the past for trying to force their way into the dumping area.
Owojori said, “We have complained to the government that the quality of service at the dumpsites has not improved and it is delaying our turnaround time. Over the years, we have had issues with the dumpsites, but the last administration spent a lot to keep the sites running and in good order.
“The government was spending about N300m per month before the concession, then we would dump our wastes and about four or five caterpillars will push the waste into the pit. But now, there are just about one or two caterpillars servicing these pits and we are spending a lot of time. We now have trucks that wait for two to three days.”
He added that the waste managers had not been able to get the state government to help improve the situation even after writing to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.
“We wrote a letter before the raining season started and the governor replied us that the attempt to deal with it was why the sites were given out on concession, but the situation has worsened with the raining season,” he said.
The General Manager, Lagos State Waste Management Authority, Mr. Segun Adeniji, told our correspondent that it had been difficult managing the dumpsites because of the rains.
According to him, there are plans by the government to reengineer the dumpsites to global standards.
“Government has a lot of plans for the dumpsites; we are working on well-engineered dumpsites but before then, we have to use these ones and manage them as they are. Managing dumpsites during the raining season is difficult; all efforts put in by the managers to put it right have been abortive but there will soon be sanity,” he said.
On the issue of security operatives beating up drivers at the dumpsite, Adeniji stated that no formal complaint had been made, adding that when concessionaires took over in April a case was reported at Olusosun and was addressed.
“So far, we have not heard about anybody being beaten up; if there is anything like that, no one has told us yet,” he said.
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