The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has organised a sensitisation workshop, for traders at its headquarters, Ijora-Olopa, during which it admonished markets in the state to take charge of the waste generated by them .
Themed “Hygienic Environment, Responsibility of All”, the workshop was attended by over 200 representatives of various markets located in the Lagos central district.
In his opening remarks, the Managing Director/CEO of LAWMA, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, represented by the head of Market Waste Services, Mrs. Aderonke Apena, noted that maintaining a clean and hygienic environment was a primary responsibility of the various markets.
He said, “A hygienic environment offers numerous benefits, primarily by reducing the risk of illness and infection, while also improving overall health and well-being. This includes a cleaner physical space, reduced stress and anxiety, and enhanced productivity. This gives us protection from water-borne diseases, other infections, and pollution. Therefore, all hands must be on deck to achieve a sustainable and healthy environment.”
“It starts from our homes. We are a reflection of what we do in our various homes. I will enjoin you to pay attention to the message of today’s workshop and apply it, both in your homes and your business places. Maintaining hygiene in a market place is very important. If a market is unhygienic, both the buyer and seller are at health risk. Let us all take proper responsibility of our environment”, he stressed.
Gbadegesin noted that the sensitisation workshop was premised on the Themes Plus agenda, where health and environment were placed side by side, stressing that failure to maintain proper hygiene in market places would have attendant negative consequences on public health and the environment .
According to him, “A market is a place where so many people visit on a daily basis, making it a veritable place for transmitting diseases, if proper sanitation is not carried out. A market should always be in a clean state. Therefore, it is important for market users to take waste management in the markets seriously, to avoid epidemics in the society “.
Speaking further on the role of traders towards ensuring proper hygiene in the markets, the LAWMA boss highlighted that proper waste containerisation should be prioritised, through bagging and separation of waste.
He observed that “Commingling of waste is unhygienic and improper. Waste emanating from the markets are of different types. There are food waste, animal waste, agricultural waste, recyclables and so on. All this waste should be properly bagged to avoid littering. We have held a series of meetings with leadership of markets on patronage of only LAWMA assigned PSP operators. It is illegal to patronise cart pushers.
He warned that LAWMA personnel had been assigned to all markets across the state, to ensure prompt payment for waste services, adding that it was important for markets to get bin keepers, to monitor and arrest illegal waste carriers who pollute the market environment.
On the recent closure of some markets for indiscriminate waste disposal, Gbadegesin noted that government did not take delight in shutting down markets, urging the traders to manage waste responsibly to prevent such measures.
Commenting on the benefit of the workshop, a trader from Folashade Tinubu Ojo Market, Suru Alaba, Mr. Lukman Ajadi, commended the Authority for organising the sensitisation workshop , adding that he had learnt a lot about proper waste separation and the benefits of recycling.
Another participant from Alayabiagba Market, Mrs. Chioma Kenneth, noted that the workshop was educative, urging the Authority to intensify night surveillance to apprehend suspected touts who engaged in illegal waste dumping in the markets.
