truck containing waste on March 11, 2020. Photo: Sodiq Adelakun /
Channels TV.
The Lagos State government has called on residents to
change their attitude to waste management to curb environmental
pollution and protect the ecosystem.
Mrs Folashade Jaji, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG),
made the call on Saturday during the flag-off ceremony of a
seven-day intense cleaning of the waterways.
“With the upsurge in the blockage of drainages and waterways
with plastic bottles and water sachets, it is imperative for all
and sundry to have a change mindset towards the environment by
disposing of our waste properly and to educate our children and
wards against indiscriminate disposal at all times,” she said.
According to the SSG, it is a known fact that plastics endure
for 450 years with its damaging effects on the ecosystem and
constitutes a threat to human and wildlife.
She decried that many seabirds and animals were killed yearly by
plastics, stressing that the number of plastics in the sea has
outnumbered the marine animals by a ratio of six to one.
Jaji noted that the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, was
conscious of the enormous global challenge of plastic waste
management, which has been projected to reach 12 billion tonnes in
landfills by 2050.
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She stated that out of the number, only five per cent has been
recycled and the government has committed human and material
resources to tackle waste management in all the 57 Local
Governments and Local Council Development Areas of the state.
“All the agencies in the environment sub-sector have been
directed to ensure compliance by the people, while over 200
recyclers have been registered under the ‘waste to wealth
initiative’.
“They have been producing durable and beautiful items from the
plastics,” the SSG told the gathering at the event.
She explained that the government, through the Lagos Waste
Management Authority (LAWMA), introduced the Blue Box Programme in
2019 to promote the extraction of plastics and other recyclable
waste to conserve the natural environment, through sorting of waste
before collection while people were rewarded for picking up
plastics.
Jaji disclosed that the Lagos State Environmental Protection
Agency (LASEPA) and Lagos State Waterways Authority often
collaborate with a private organisation to clear the seaside to
prevent pollution and water transportation accidents regularly.