LAWMA introduces mini waste disposal trucks

The Lagos State Waste Management Authority has introduced mini, pay-as-you-drop waste garbage disposal trucks to cater for areas with poor road network, where the bigger PSP vehicles cannot penetrate.

About 100 of the TATA mini garbage trucks were handed over to PSP operators in the state to improve waste collection.

The Managing Director of LAWMA, Mr. Ola Oresanya, said the mini garbage disposal trucks would replace truck pushers that had been banned in the state.

“We listened to the people’s complaint that PSP operators were not getting to their areas, so the governor approved the use of these smaller vehicles. These smaller trucks are replacing the truck pushers. We will do pay-as-you- drop, we have tried it in some areas and it worked,” he said.

Oresanya added that the development signalled the value that the state government placed on public hygiene and the need to prevent truck pushers from clogging the drainages and waterways with solid wastes.

“We want the people of Lagos to live in health, because that is when they can be wealthy. We don’t want residents to run their bills on curative health whereas we can run a portion of it on preventive health,” he said.

Oresanya said the pilot scheme began about three years ago with six mini trucks “that have given birth to these 100 (trucks) and in six months to one year when we see the impact of this, we will scale up to 200, especially in areas where we are doing well. And if we are not doing well, we will not shy away from backing off.”

He said when the PSP programme started with the specialised trucks, some areas had challenges with road network and based on that, people tried to justify the continued patronage of cart pushers.

“These vehicles will provide the same services the truck pushers can, so there is no justification for patronising truck pushers anymore,” he said.

The Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, said the demand for efficient waste management service had been on the increase in the state over the last 10 years, arising from economic growth, adding that this had stretched the capability of the LAWMA workforce.

He said, “Our waste collection services had their challenges, which included the uncooperative attitude of our people; difficulty in accessing some hard-to-reach communities by the PSP trucks and non-payment for services by many.

“The identified lapses encountered from the use of heavy-duty trucks for waste collection by the PSP operators in the suburb areas of the state led to the introduction of the pilot scheme of mini garbage trucks in these areas to ease accessibility and ensure efficient services.”

Source: Punch Newspaper