Lagos Seeks Partnership to Tackle Waste Management, Climate Change
By Hamid Ayodeji
The Lagos State government is seeking the partnership of private and non-governmental organisations in its drive towards developing policies aimed at effectively tackling waste management and climate change issues.
The administration revealed that it has been dealing with climate change and waste management through the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources and the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA), by not merely advocating and sensitising, but also by enforcing policies and regulations across the state.
The General Manager Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe, said this during a climate change stakeholders’ forum organised by the French Embassy in Nigeria, recently.
Speaking at the event which held in Lagos, she said the state government remains dedicated towards partnering with private and public stakeholders in the waste management and climate change sector in order to ensure it generates and enforces policies that effectively address such issues in the society.
She also explained that the ministry of environment has taken a lot of proactive steps towards the forthcoming raining season, saying there are now primary, secondary and tertiary drainages being cleared on a daily basis in order to ensure free flow of waste and water during the raining season, thereby avoiding floods.
“Also, we have six air quality monitoring machines in Lagos which helps us acquire real time online data, and then we exchange these data with the American embassy.
“In addition, in terms of physical economic impact we are seeing some companies have decided not to deal with companies that are not dealing with sustainability in their production,” she said.
She further said: “Climate change is an enemy to economic growth.
Imagine all that was lost during the tsunami or floods, or when people spend so much time stuck in traffic due to flooded roads.
“Or even health impact assessment as people are getting exposed to ultra-violent rays and getting cancer at a younger age because we are not properly treating our waste,”
On her part, the Director, CmDesign Atelier, Tosin Oshinowo, disclosed that Nigeria still builds with the same type of building materials used in the 1950s, such as concrete, saying that was not meant to be so.
“We need to look at using more sustainable building materials that are appropriate and conducive for the environment that would keep cool during the day and warm at night while constructing buildings in this era.
“Also, we need to generate policies and regulations that see to it that there are no buildings left abandoned and unkept as these are also great sources of environmental pollution,” she added.
