Party Leaders Move to Resolve Lagos Waste Collection Tussle

Party leaders, commissioners and members of the State House of Assembly, have waded into the fray as the battle for the control of waste collection in Lagos State rages on.

Despite the relentless criticism from stakeholders, Visionscape has continued to rollout and it appears that aggrieved parties may have resorted to more extreme measures as there are unconfirmed reports of violence, THISDAY has learnt.

It was also gathered that a resolution is imminent and that Lagosians will soon breathe a sigh of relief. There has been a stalemate as to how the state government can achieve its goal on cleaner Lagos Initiative while the PSPs were adamant to support a more robust plan for huge investment on infrastructural upgrade by Visionscape beyond mere waste collection.

After the meeting held last Thursday, it was gathered that all parties have now reached an agreement which allows waste operators collect residential waste and enable Visionscape commit to scale up waste infrastructural development in the best interest of the people. In addition, the company will continue to provide waste bins and waste bags for all residential customers in partnership with operators of LAWMA.

The agreement also empowers Visionscape to engage PSPs firstly on a short term basis and perhaps on long-term service arrangement and carry out intervention required to fill service gaps.

THISDAY also learnt that Visionscape will continue with its contractual obligation to Lagos state with the waste management infrastructure needed. At present, three transfer loading stations are at 90 per cent stages of completion, three service depots are already completed and one engineered landfill is being built. However, stakeholders are of the view that Lagos state needs more than this to truly manage its daily 1,300 metric tonnes of waste being generated.

All 350 waste management operators popularly called PSPs had dragged the Lagos state government and Visionscape to court in January 2017 after the new environmental law was proposed. The new agreement is the outcome of the court’s advice for a negotiated amicable settlement.

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