…says “No tolerance for environmental infractions”
The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has reinforced its commitment to tackling indiscriminate waste disposal across the state, adopting a two-pronged approach of strict enforcement and innovative waste management solutions. The agency has vowed to ensure full compliance with environmental laws, with ongoing legal action against offenders and sustained waste collection measures.
Speaking on this today on Lagos Talks 91.3 FM with the Guru, the Managing Director/CEO of LAWMA, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, noted that surveillance and enforcement teams were operating round the clock, to track and apprehend individuals who flout waste management laws, stressing that offenders would face the full weight of the law, to serve as a deterrent to individuals undermining the Authority’s efforts.
He said: “Right now, we have about 50 cases in court where we have apprehended violators for illegal waste dumping. Our enforcement team, in collaboration with the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), has intensified its monitoring efforts, ensuring that offenders are prosecuted.”
Gbadegesin stated that over 300 illegal waste carts had been seized and were set for destruction, noting that investigations had revealed that many of the offenders were either new to Lagos or willfully disregarding the law, adding that such would not be tolerated.
“We are taking a firm stance against this trend. Our surveillance teams work both day and night to catch perpetrators in the act. Laws exist to be followed and enforced, and that’s the primary task of government so we can all live in peace”, he stated.
He highlighted LAWMA’s ongoing innovations in waste management, including the expansion of the Waste-to-Wealth and Circular Economy initiatives, aimed at reducing landfill dependence.
“We started to ask ourselves, are these things we are throwing away actually waste, or can we derive value from them? Now, we have a glass recycling plant in Lagos, and people are beginning to see the economic potential in materials like PET bottles”, he said.
The LAWMA boss revealed that the agency had introduced tricycle compactors in hard-to-reach areas such as Ibeju Lekki, with plans to extend the initiative to other parts of Lagos in the coming weeks, adding that the idea was to make waste collection more accessible, especially in areas where conventional compactors struggled due to bad roads, disclosing that the scheme once introduced in other parts would be, “Pay as you go”.
Speaking further, he said the Authority’s marine waste team has continued daily waste collection efforts along the coastline, lagoons, and drainage channels, particularly at Five Cowries Creek, even as the agency continues to expand its advanced medical waste management system to include not just hospitals but also hairdressers and beauticians who generate human tissue waste.
Reaffirming LAWMA’s zero-tolerance policy on environmental infractions, he stressed that every Lagos resident had a role to play in maintaining a cleaner and healthier environment, from disposing waste properly through accredited PSP operators, cleaning of gutters in front of our houses, to sorting waste at source, urging the populace to comply with waste disposal regulations and report challenges with collection services to LAWMA, instead of resorting to illegal dumping.
