By Amechi Ogbonna
Filth management is one big challenge that developing countries in Africa and other emerging economies across the world are still contending with.
In India, Bangladesh, Africa and parts of South America, the menace of dirty environment and the health hazard it poses to humanity remain a huge puzzle most governments have yet to unravel. In Europe and most of North America, waste management has transited into an economic asset, where scientific conversion and recycling of human and industrial waste into reusable properties has become huge industry.
But in Nigeria, nearly all the states of the federation are still battling some monumental filth in major streets, markets and other public places.
But what is rather worrisome in most of these instances is the habit or culture of waste disposal by the citizens.
In states like, Lagos, Imo, Delta, Edo, Ondo, and Oyo among others, despite their increasing cosmopolitan status, recent experiences have shown that most residents are yet to imbibe the culture of modern waste disposal as huge garbage and other effluents are constantly being disposed indiscriminately around the streets especially when such people believe no one is watching to sanction them.
Recent studies on incessant flooding incidences recorded in the country revealed that much of these problems were traceable to the indiscriminate dumping of refuse on artificial water channels being blocked with household debris including biodegradable and solid waste that ordinarily should have been properly disposed of using modern technology. But in their attempt to redeem the situation, some states have also continued to develop elaborate strategies to tackle the menace to further make the environment more conducive for the citizens.
For Lagos state, successive administrations did launch a frontal war against filth in various locations across the state.
And as one of the most populous states in the country, there is indeed no gainsaying it that Lagos would need to make more elaborate arrangement to curtail the filth challenge if only to reinforce its claim as the nation’s centre of excellence, in addition to its status as Nigeria’s economic and industrial capital.
Experiences on how states have been managing filth in the country show that no government at whatever level has been able to bridge the huge infrastructural gap without the support of the private sector.
In Lagos for instance, as in other states, working with private sector operators to keep the streets free from filth has been on the card, but the structure of the partnerships has left some parties feeling cheated most times.
Only recently, the Cleaner Lagos Initiative started off with an extensive and sustainable waste management system in the government’s effort to maximise its potential in solid waste management with recycling, recovery and waste reduction efforts, liquid waste management, drainage management, and waste water treatment as part of the bargain. The scheme equally seeks to fully develop sufficient infrastructure for collection, proper processing and disposal of all waste to meet the state’s environmental objectives.
Specifically, the scheme is looking at creating an enabling environment for the non-governmental agencies, the private sector and the government to harness international best practices in this vital area of infrastructure.
According to the state’s Commissioner for Environment, Dr Babatunde Adejare, the objective of the Cleaner Lagos Initiative is to create value and empower those at the bottom of the value chain. This arrangement allows the ordinary citizens and residents of the state to be integrated into providing solution to environmental challenges by taking responsibility for their immediate environment while tackling the challenge of poor waste management in their communities.
With 27,500 Community Sanitation Workers in employment, the stakes are becoming higher as citizens now look forward to reaping benefits of a mass employment scheme such as this and the unprecedented effort to tie back directly to the Lagos State Government’s sustainability goals towards improving environmental and socio-economic conditions for its citizens.
He stated, “While these jobs are important, the induced effect of higher spending power is where we hope to create about 400,000-500,000 jobs. These jobs are those generated as a benefit of the increased expenditures in the supply and distribution chains from the new employees spending more money in the general economy.”
The local multiplier effect of a progressive policy that pays above the federally mandated minimum wage in distributional terms is immeasurable. Moreover, the positive impact on low-income households is particularly significant not only to direct beneficiaries within the household but also within the local economy as higher spending by workers typically results in an increase in demands for goods and services within their local communities.
Adejare said, “the efforts of the administration regarding employment for out of work youth who make up almost 50 percent of the entire Lagos population has been exemplary. The state hopes to ultimately drive job creation by developing opportunities in entirely new industries.
An increase in wages because of the injection of thousands of locally established jobs into the state’s economy will also translate to overall improvement in public finances thereby acting as a catalyst for the delivery of social and economic values across the state.”
PSPs as strategic stakeholders in refuse management
A thorough assessment of the current state of waste management infrastructure in Lagos, shows the state government acknowledges systemic failures and has started revising the legislative framework to harmonise the various laws on environment into a single law to allow for a more convenient administration of the law and management of the environment. There has also been an emphasis on putting in place an elaborate and standardised regulation on the environment of Lagos.
“Having set the legal groundwork, we adopted a holistic approach to addressing the unique problems of this mega city of 22 million people and designing a sustainable waste management system. In collaboration with the Ministries of the Environment, Justice, Urban and Physical planning, we have developed strategies for regulation, enforcement and most importantly financing to support the initiatives. Over the past 10 months, these efforts have been shaped into The Cleaner Lagos Initiative.
“The role of the PSPs in the restructuring of the waste management system in Lagos going forward will be to serve the commercial sector of the state.”
The positive impact that PSPs efforts have had over the years on the Lagos landscape is undeniable. However, we cannot deny that we need a comprehensive waste management system that is world standard. Currently, we do not have an existing structure in place to support those endeavours.
But restructuring will benefit PSPs because the state plans to introduce new environmental policies and laws that not only protect the citizens and the environment but all waste management operators who painstakingly invest the resources into helping with clean-up of Lagos initiative.
The investment in the waste management will address the major challenge being faced by operators by ensuring that sanitary landfills are constructed across the state. Furthermore, the proposed environmental law requires all commercial entities to have a valid contract with a registered operator, these contracts will prove to be a valuable component for any serious-minded operator with sustainable plans for growth.
The restructuring creates new operational parameters, which will see the existing PSPs (private sector participants) working in the commercial and public sectors. The law makes new provisions that protect the interests of existing investments by requiring all commercial entities to have a valid and enforceable contract with a registered operator.
There are over 10,000 registered commercial businesses in Lagos so the PSPs are still very much relevant in waste stream management in Lagos State.
The dynamic opportunities in the waste industry make the currently ineffective and mismanaged industry rife with profitable opportunities. Businesses with the adept capabilities will be able to make significant impact on Lagos waste problem to establish a viable operation.
Sustainable long-term funding is needed at both the state and local levels to support the efforts needed to reach the State’s goals. Therefore, systematic planning is critical to the long-term success of this comprehensive plan we have for Lagos State. We have worked to improve safety and security by boosting the security forces, the emergency response capabilities and by improving lighting.
We are now turning our focus to sanitation and the environment- there is no denial that the system is flawed.
He explained that the administration has chosen to take the bull by the horns by addressing the challenges with waste management that are affecting health, the economy and the very livelihoods of future generations to come in a phased, strategic and successful manner.
Plans for PSP
In response to the association of PSP (Private Sector Participant) waste managers recently met with, the state government, through Dr. Babatunde Adejare, who issued a statement on the PSP, saying:
“The safety and well being of the people of Lagos is a top priority for the Akinwunmi Ambode led government. We firmly believe in protecting and guaranteeing the basic human rights of the people. We are cognizant of the numerous challenges that have plagued the State when it comes to sanitation. When our administration took over, it was apparent to us that we needed to make determined efforts towards water, sanitation and hygiene.
Which is why over the last 10 months, we have taken a holistic approach to identifying the unique problems and have focused on creating a framework for a sustainable integrated waste management system. We sought and obtained executive council approval to carry out a full review along with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice, we put the existing laws and policies under a microscope, we have reviewed them to reflect that sanitation is treated as a non-negotiable requisite in Lagos, and we have come up with strategies for regulation, enforcement and most importantly financing to support the initiatives. The Cleaner Lagos Initiative was born from the results of this process.
The Cleaner Lagos Initiative was established as an extensive and sustainable waste management system by the state government to maximise the state’s potential in solid waste management with recycling, recovery and waste reduction efforts, liquid waste management, drainage management, and waste water treatment. It also seeks to fully develop sufficient infrastructure for collection, proper processing and disposal of all waste to meet the state’s environmental objectives.
The first phase of the initiative, tackles solid waste management which is in a clear state of crisis due to the moribund supporting infrastructure that must be beefed up- bin placement, transfer loading stations, material recovery facilities and of course landfills. The current arrangement is highly cumbersome- LAWMA in its role as regulator is expected to coordinate the activities of 350 individual companies and still carry out its own collection services. Revenue generation is extremely difficult due to the disparity and discrepancy of charges and collection routes which made the billing system unduly complicated and open to fraud.
In September 2016, the proposed concept of operations was unveiled at a stakeholder’s meeting presided over by Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode personally in which it was explained that LAWMA would no longer be working as an operator and would be taking on its regulatory role while the residential waste collection and the supporting backbone will be concessioned to foreign investors.
All the challenges concerning the landfills and the transfer loading stations would be addressed through this arrangement.
The PSP operators were made to understand that the new operational plan allows them to compete within zones for the 10,000 commercial customers and businesses that operate within the city. They were also briefed that the funds allegedly being owed would be addressed through a recertification and revalidation process (commencing February 2017). They were additionally urged to form strategic partnerships that will give them the numeric strength and capabilities to compete under a competitive integrated system
There is no gainsaying the positive impact that PSPs efforts have had over the years on the Lagos landscape is undeniable. That being said, the quantum and scale required for managing the waste of 22million people cannot be achieved with a proliferation of small scale operators. We have sought to accommodate them through the categorisation of specialist sectors such as medical waste, hazardous waste, construction waste- areas that will accommodate the existing operators provided they can nimbly adapt to international best practices. Furthermore, their revenue sharing agreement with LAWMA is being abolished. Instead of remitting 40per cent of their income to LAWMA, they will merely be paying a regulatory fee of 1.5per cent of revenue.
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