Uncollected Waste Threatens Lagos Residents and Businesses

[00:00:00]Now, residents in several parts of the state are raising alarm over mounting heaps of waste lining roads, blocking drainage channels, and creating unpleasant living conditions. Now, environmental experts warn that the situation could worsen flooding during the rainy season while increasing the risk of disease outbreak. Businesses have also expressed concerns that the persistent waste problem is affecting commercial activities and the city's image. News Central's correspondents Malola Victor Madik and also Israel Eirobo join us from across Lagos for the latest details on this. Let's start with Israel. Israel thank you very much for joining us this afternoon along with our colleagues. So from um Olu dump site that's where you are. What does the volume of waste arriving there reveal about the scale of Lagos waste management's challenge? Well, Zeno uh what this reveals about um the waste here in Lagos State is the fact that Lagos State as a commercial hub of Nigeria and indeed with with um a lot of people a lot of residents here and in industries and companies and households it simply means that uh the state has got mountain refues that are coming up every single day and that's exactly what we see here at the Olashu dump site uh where indeed heaps of refugees uh in from across the state are coming into this dump site on a daily basis. But the issue here right now that we have witnessed since we got on the ground earlier today is the fact that um uh the truck drivers here as the compactor truck drivers uh are having some sort of difficulty in trying to access um this dump site that we understand is now being decommissioned. They are planning on decommissioning this dump site. Let's hear what some of these compactor truck drivers said to us earlier today. Take a listen.

[00:01:51]>> Two more. Now this work we enter inside.

[00:01:54]Motor enter inside the motor go knock.

[00:01:57]No road. This road now only enter. They never finish. People here they find drivers day. They not get money to chop food. They not allow them do another road. If you go they go pursue you. If you go this thing they go pursue you. My family does mean I don't get money on this work to get to rent house MONEY THIS 3 weeks for enter um Israel we could hear there from um concerned well individuals who make a living from the dump site there but I'm going to speak to omala now so if you don't mind let's uh let's takea good Afternoon. Now you are in one of Lagos's busiest commercial hubs. How's the way situation affecting business and commuters and also residents in that part of Lagos?

[00:03:00]Um Mino we're presently on Osho Apapa expressway and you know we're precisely on Eesha bus stop where you'll find you know heap on a lot you know a huge sum of heap on the walkway and what you will find on this place is the fact that the heap as long as the road is you will find the heap almost on every part of the road down from mu you know to celeb bus stop and even afterwards and resident complaining bitterly. Many of them have said that you know um the Lagos State Waste Management Authority are not do you're not doing much about it then you know when they take the refuge for some time after a while they leave it there and you know the thing begins to the refuge begins to pile up because this is a like you mentioned is a major commercial um hub where marketers you know market women they come here every evening to drop their um refues and what before now what they said is the fact that they come here to drop this refuge maybe around 8 or 9:00 p.m. and then before the following morning the you know the trucks will come take it away and then it goes on like that but for the past few months they said that um you know the situation of things have changed and then you know I have some of the resident who will be telling us the reasons why things have gone this bad I have Mr. Godwin ata he's one of the res please come here please come sir he's one of the residents you know of this area he's going to sir you can come and stand here please um you know yes you were telling us about the reason for this he sir we you see we'll be telling them always that this are not good for here when we I confronted me myself personally I confronted one of the PSP driver one time and all this other trucks the one that press the bag go up and press They used to walk in the night to pack these things. But this one they say they will not why why the parking of this debris is slow is because of money and sometimes because of the trucks in the in the workshop they will feel slow to repair it now h and sometime they owe the drivers salary all the things are they say these are the things that are going on one even carelessly or or whatever it mean I don't know he That one said active government that used to pay them is about going away that they knew that they want to hand over the thing to to new government that is why they the work is somehow slow and why if the work is slow now we go are we going to remain in deadness like this >> you know that he said that the market women come here every evening to >> drop it 8 9 to drop their all this dirt lot in daytime that's what they do.

[00:05:51]>> Sir, what do you think is the impact of this thing? Especially looking at how you know the state of things talking especially the health aspect of it. What do you think will be the impact of >> the impact is sickness now it will give us sickness to give us sickness and and and it it it inconveniences.

[00:06:08]It inconvenience everybody here both the pass by bypass motors both uh people trekking and all these things. it it it convenience everybody and again the smell that comes out of here is not easy that is it >> thank you very much sir thank you so much um you heard it from one of the resident he said that um you know majorly I think some really what he's trying to say is the fact that um the management of this you know the PSP workers and all of that has not been um [snorts] a good one they haven't managed it quite well and he's talked about the welfare of the you know the people the PSP workers so has been a major issue and that is why we've seen delay um in in in in the picking of the refues and that's why the roads are like this.

[00:06:50]It's back to you Mazin.

[00:06:51]>> Thank you very much. Now let's come to Victor Badik. Victor Badik, you are in farflung Kurdu. Victor, what is the waste situation like across Eurodu and how are residents being affected on a daily basis?

[00:07:11]>> All right, let me bring two scenarios.

[00:07:14]First of all, I'm at Ojota, one of the major popular major parks. I inu access or area of Lego state if you like. And if you take a quick look just behind me is um some maybe not a major heap of waste, intersection of waste. Uh where you this is something you most likely find in almost uh every 5 minutes walk or 5 minutes drive around axis. Uh so again like I said I am at Oja Park and I have quickly with me Ibraim.

[00:07:46]Ibrahim tell us how long has that waste been at that place and I mean how do we need to get that waste out of that place?

[00:07:53]>> I don't know I don't know how to tell you but but it's not good. It's too bad like that for them to be putting waste outside the road but I don't know who is putting it. In case we see anybody that is putting it we may hide the person.

[00:08:04]>> Okay. Some some people say that uh maybe those people who stay around here because I know that you have made this place your home. So now that you stay around here with your friends, how do you dispose your waste? How do you throw your debts away? Uh where do you go to toilet? How do you do so that we can see how we can help you? We don't used to throw toilet because me I have home. I have where I used to stay and I have where I used to arrange myself. So we talking about people that are outside that are staying outside. So me I'm okay for now but I'm not I'm just talking about the dirty the dirty I'm talking about it's not good for them to be going dirty outside >> because I'm wondering for the some of your friends who sleep at uh a job seminar here where do they throw their debts where do they go to if they want to use the toilet >> they know my friend mostly I used to meet them here I don't know any of them cuz me I'm alone I don't have friend >> right thank you very so much okay m you understand that the people who stay here unconventional ally also constitute or contribute to the issue of waste disposal or indiscriminate waste disposal across the parts of Lagos and I'm currently working towards a manhole which is supposed to you know uh give access to underground channels uh or drainages if you like I also noticed that even manholes have been um filled with waste and that it's not nice I'm trying to so I'm trying to see if I can hold my nose because it's really really smelly and and this is a man who really mass you know I mean it's not even safe it's going to block the drainage storm water drainage and it's going to block even seage and this is a major major issue across all parts of Lagos the other part of the story I want to let you know is that uh some law officials have been seen around K2 you know picking up these debts and clearing the debris or house 24 hours ago was was almost a mess but today it seems to be improving although law can do much Again, I also noticed that um some of these uh waste disposals, we have situations even on BRT lanes where people, you know, dump their waste. Uh we have situation where people dump their waste on drainages or inside drainages if you like. And and the excuses they give is that law officials are not coming to their homes to take their debts on time. While some person say they do not have that kind of money to pay uh law officials every month to get their waste disposed. I mean as little as 1,000 naira and even 1,500 naira. And so the only thing they could do is to look for a designated place where they can you know park their debts whether it has to be on the road whether it has to be on the PR lanes whether it has to be on the D they do not care and that is a whole lot of work for law to do. I might be holding brief for them because I can tell you for free that although they may have their own issues but the truth is the people themselves are really really really to and they can do much better. I mean how much is 1,000 that they cannot spare to ensure that they live in a clean environment but that's not what they are doing right now. I mean the excuse is that they don't have the money and when they don't have the money to pay it means that the entire streets entire main roads will be you know filled up with debt and that's really a bad situation all the way from it in Nikurodu down to garage down to um down to Ketu and now to the story is almost similar is quite unique because there are people who live on this terminal they actually live and sleep here and so the implication of that is when they want to use the toilet debt where did they go to where they want to dispose that debt where did they go to I just showed an example of a manhood that has been filled with waste and it is likely that it is coming majorly from people who sleep here the faces are quite smelly and that's is this is the only place they could really do their thing and it's really sad and that's the situation I hope Lama can hear us and see how they can you know mitigate these issues because it's really getting messier >> very much Victor Victor um we I I think you're proximate to Israel Israel if you're still there I'd like to know if there's any other detail would like to know since you're at the Olus Park and that's where all the waste is supposed to come to on a daily basis. Um, Israel please.

[00:12:03]>> Yes, Dino. Um, well, all the waste are meant to come to this part of Lagos State, but not just this part of Lagos State, but also to uh Aleppo somewhere in the corridor as well. We spoke to some of the respondents from some of the compactor drivers earlier on today and they told us that the issue that they have been have one of the issues that they have been having is the fact that they have not been able to the speed up with which they they dispose of the refuge here at Aleppo takes a really a longer time for us here is quite specul because the access road that leads into uh this dump site has been having issues. Now I spoke to because it's it is flooded. I spoke to the general the managing director of um law of law um Dr. Mua Badeshi earlier on today and he did assure me that he will uh come alongside New Central Television tomorrow here at this dump site to show us exactly what is happening here. We understand that Llama is implementing a coordinated transition program at the Luchu dump site and the Solus landfill sites to improve immediate operating conditions while preparing both sides for decommissioning within the next 6 to 8 months. Well, the program is set to combines temporary rehabilitation uh modern waste transfer, resource recovery infrastructure and a diversion of recoverable waste from a final disposal. He also did say that the long-term objective is to replace direct disposal at Olosu and Solus with control transfer material recovery, alternative fuel production and environmentally sound treatment of residual waste. Well, we hope that um the Llama boss will be here tomorrow with news central so we can get some detailed analysis of what exactly is going on here and what indeed Llama is doing uh about this trucks and this access road here that is not so good. He did say that there will be another access road in to this dump site uh that they already preparing. So all of these details we'll try to find out from the llama boss tomorrow here.

[00:14:14]Mazino, >> thank you very much Israel Aroa. Thank you very much and thank you very much Victor Madik for bringing us the details from across Lagos.

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