LAHA orders PSP operators to resume waste disposal, denies Visonscape deal
Confusion that may lead to head-on collision with the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has cropped up at the Lagos State House of Assembly (LAHA) as the lawmakers on Thursday, directed all suspended indigenous carriers of solid wastes in the state popularly known as Private Sector Partnership (PSP) operators in their areas to resume collection of refuse forthwith.
This is as the House further denied any form of knowledge of the Visionscape Sanitation Solutions Ltd, which is contracted by the Governor after displacing PSPs to manage wastes in the state.
In his ruling on the hot issue at plenary, Speaker of the House, Mr Mudashiru Obasa stressed that the Lagos State Government did not know anything about Visionscape because as there was no consultation with arms of the government especially the lawmakers before the foreign company was hired.
According to him, there are three arms of government — the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary — and the executive arm ought to have consulted with the House on Visionscape before engaging the company.
“We insist that we don’t know anything about Visionscape because we were not consulted before they started work.
“We once wrote the Commissioner for Finance, Mr Akinyemi Ashade not to pay Visionscape again and that he would return any money he paid to them after our instruction to the coffers of the government.
“We will go to that when the time comes but we have to do the needful now.
“We call on the 20 local governments and 37 LCDAs to have meetings with the PSP operators to go back to work and they should start paying them and make the residents to start paying the operators. We have to avoid epidemics and be proactive,” Obasa said.
It would be recalled that since the displacement of PSPs following the engagement of Visionscape Environmental Solutions Limited managed by Mr. John Irvine, there had been endless complaints of mounting heaps of refuse in parts of the state.
Analysts say the key challenge of the Dubai group is that it failed to decipher between the kinds of wastes generated in Dubai and Lagos waste, thus leading to the application of wrong waste management system that has turned the state to become the filthiest city currently.
Business Hilights gathered that the resolution followed an urgent matter of public importance raised by Mr Gbolahan Yishawu, the Chairman, House Committee on Budget and Economic Planning over heaps of refuse scattered all over the state.
Yishawu, who said that there were several heaps of refuse on Lagos roads, argued that “Some refuse are being taken to Epe and Ikorodu but these places are a bit far now.
“We used to dump the refuse in Olusosun, but the place was gutted by fire. We can give the place to private companies.
“The sanitary landfill in Epe is not being utilised and the transfer loading stations too are not working effectively.
“It is not all the PSP operators that are working. Maybe, we can recall the PSP Operators and reopen Olusosun and the landfill sites should be operated properly,” he said.
The Majority Leader of the House, Mr Sanai Agunbiade, said that heaps of refuse were worse in Ikorodu.
According to him, for the state to have good sanitation, a law on environmental sanitation was passed in the state.
“The refuse on the roads and on the streets are hazardous to the people. Flies from the refuse perch on the food people are eating, thus exposing them to health hazards.
“One day, Olusosun will not be able to accommodate refuse any longer. It will be better if we can change our policy on refuse disposal.
“I will suggest that we should invite the people in the Ministry of Health and those in the Ministry of the Environment to know their challenges.
“The refuse situation has become an eyesore in Lagos State. We should invite the people in charge,” Agunbiade said.
Mr Bisi Yusuff, representing Alimosho Constituency 1, observed that Visionscape were not delivering on the scope of their job and therefore urged the House to look at the situation critically and urgently.
Just as the lawmakers took turns to decry the poor state of refuse management across the state, in his ruling, the Speaker of the House, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, directed the Chairmen of the 20 local governments and 36 Local Council Development Areas to engage PSP operators to resume full operations.
Obasa also directed the Clerk of the House, Mr Azeez Sanni, to invite the Commissioner for the Environment, Mr Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti to appear before the House on the matter next week.
