Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Friday, visited the Olusosun dump site in furtherance of his pledge to improve the environmental situation as contained in the first Executive Order on Environmental and Sanitation Matters signed recently.
Speaking during a visit to the dumpsite, alongside his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, the Governor said: “we are here today to validate the Executive Order we signed. This is where we receive 70 per cent of the waste in Lagos. The facility is 28 years-old so we want to ensure that it can receive waste for the next 23 years,’’ he said.
The governor expressed the possibility of the return of the monthly sanitation exercise after consultations with various stakeholders.
“We are going to ask Lagosians if they want us to return the three-hour monthly sanitation exercise to ensure that we have a cleaner city. Though I have my own view, we will still ask Lagosians,” he said.
He also disclosed the plan to expand the dumpsite to accommodate more waste, saying: “We want to expand the facility to 42 acres so that trucks can have a quicker turn around time”.
Sanwo-Olu disclosed that the building under construction at the entrance of the site would be used to train and retrain the staff and create more jobs for the people, adding that the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) would be strengthened to collect recyclable materials necessary for the creation of more jobs.
He expressed confidence that the revenue derivable from waste will be properly harnessed to make life more meaningful to the people of the State.