State governments have been urged to align with the Federal government’s stand on the ban of single use plastic to ensure circular economy waste.
The Minister of State for Environment, Dr. Isiaq Salako made the call at a Chemical Handlers And Users’ Workshop, held in Abeokuta, with the theme: Chemical And Waste Management Circular Solutions For A Sustainable Economy.
Dr Salako affirmed that recycling waste as a resource for manufacturing new materials and products, through the circular economy waste initiative, would guarantee sustainable environment.
The Minister who emphasized that the single use of plastic would soon be banned across the Federal government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies, said the move would enhance the protection of people’s health against hazards.
In a message, Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun said all companies and individuals with storage facilities for chemical had been directed to register with the State Environmental Protection Agency for effective monitoring, tracking, evaluation and management of such industrial wastes.
Represented by his Deputy, Mrs Noimot Salako -Oyedele, Governor Abiodun renewed his administration’s commitment to excellent environmental governance and sustainable economy, promising to take proactive measures in the management of chemicals and wastes.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Ola Oresanya had expressed the government’s bid for environmental responsibility and sustainable practices, adding that the workshop would address challenges posed by chemicals and wastes in evolving landscape.
Dr Oresanya explained that chemical wastes usually remained in the air, waterways, and land, thereby exerting hazardous effects on the citizens.
If you’re asked, which will you prefer, to either take a longer but safer route to your destination or a shorter but risky one?
Certainly, responses will be different but, that is the question emanating from the scenario playing up at the New Gbagi International Market portion of the Ife -Ibadan expressway in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo state.
For a very long time, pedestrians have formed the habit of crossing the highway via the road median rather than going through the pedestrian bridge meant for that.
This raises so much concern about people’s disposition to how much they value their lives.
Why would people abandon safety for a risky path? Some blame it on the collapse of the bridge some years ago when a heavy-duty vehicle lost control and rammed into it, resulting in its collapse. Others believe it is the usual attitude of many Nigerians to achieve their goals within the shortest and cheapest possible means.
One could recall that the government’s decision to construct was due to the high rate of mortality usually recorded on busy roads.
About a year ago, the pedestrian bridge was home to destitute and heaps of refuse and human excrement due to its abandonment by the people it was built for.
Consequently, a waste management consultant to the Oyo state government was employed to clear the bridge while sweepers were assigned to keep it tidy.
However, today, the bridge is an eyesore with just one or two pedestrians making use of the bridge.,
It now comfortably harbours filth, stagnant water, and algae while the very few people using it have to tiptoe and meander around a mound of faeces to avoid being messed up.
Must the government’s effort and the huge amount of money expended on the bridge go down the drain?
Where do we go from here?
Will the objective of ensuring the safety of all road users, through the use of pedestrian bridges, also be neglected?
The Oyo State Government has introduced a mobile application for improving and tracking the collection of waste.
This was revealed by the management of Oyo State Waste Management Consultant, Mottainai Recycling in Ibadan on Thursday.
The Chief Strategy Officer, Mottainai Recycling, Ms. Uloma Airhienbuwa said the new step was geared towards simplifying waste management in the pace-setter State.
She also said that the easy-to-use application will help in tracking the ‘movement and management’ of hazardous and other solid wastes.
According to Ms. Uloma Airhienbuwa, the waste management app, which can be downloaded on all smart devices, was designed with user convenience and sustainability in mind, offering several key features to facilitate waste and recycling pickup requests.
“The app also offers clarity on when your waste is picked up, and by whom; and an ability to pay your waste bill”, Uloma Airhienbuwa said.
Speaking further, Ms. Airhienbuwa hinted that it also has a fun and transparent way of incentivizing waste sorting.
Her words, “the app has a User-friendly Interface: The app provides an intuitive and user-friendly interface that allows waste generators to easily navigate and make pickup requests with just a few taps.”
“Users can initiate waste pickup requests through the app by specifying the type of waste, quantity, and preferred pickup date and time. Users can either make this an on-demand request or create an ideal pickup schedule for themselves. This feature enables efficient scheduling and coordination between Mottainai and users”, she added.
“The app incorporates GPS technology to enable users to locate their specific waste-pickup location”, Ms. Airhienbuwa asserted.
“To incentivize waste sorting, the app incorporates a points-based system. Users earn points based on the accuracy of their waste sorting and responsible disposal practices. Accumulated points can be redeemed for various rewards, such as discounts on waste management services, or donations to a charity organization of your choice”, Airhienbuwa added.
Ms. Uloma Airhienbuwa added that the app is continually being developed to ensure users a seamless experience for pickup requests, tracking the progress of pickups and payments, and receiving rewards.
Following the verification of One-hundred and sixty-nine waste collectors, the Oyo State Government has flagged off an intensive door-to-door waste evacuation operation, to address the menace of improper waste disposal in the metropolis.
The Waste Management Consultant in the State, Mr Adey Adewuyi, said in a statement issued in Ibadan that the waste collectors, now known as “Mottainai Accredited Franchisees” will be empowered to fast-track the clearing of waste from the streets of Ibadan and restore environmental sustainability.
He added that the new system in place does not permit residents and commercial waste creators/generators in Oyo State to make cash payments to any accredited waste collector.
“All payments are made through bank transfer, Point of Sale (POS) or Direct Deposit in the banking hall. Also, all former residential pick-up tariffs will be maintained with no increase whatsoever”, he said.
Mr Adewuyi said the verification exercise was done in collaboration with the Oyo State Waste Management Authority (OYOWMA), for Waste collectors that have been operating in Oyo State and some new companies that applied to work in the waste management sector.
“So far, 169 waste collectors, who have shown that they have some level of capacity, have been verified and are now known as Mottainai Accredited Franchisees (MAFs)”, he said.
Mr Adewuyi said, with 21 Compactors, 3 Roro Trucks, 175 Open Trucks, and no (zero) Skip Trucks; the operational capacity of the MAFs is far below what is required to keep the state clean.
He however said his firm, Mottainai Recycling Ltd, will empower them with operational trucks.
Mr Adewuyi added, “We are confident that with the right tools, the new and existing MAFs will achieve greater efficiency”.
“In the meantime, all former PSPs, now MAFs, have been mandated to clean up Oyo State. Some of them have been assigned to return to their former slots, while others have been assigned new slots”.
The Waste Management consultant reaffirmed that the firm is committed to maintaining a clean environment.
Meanwhile, he hinted that the verification and accreditation of waste collectors in Oyo State is a continuous process.
He, therefore, appealed to companies with the necessary capacity to approach the Oyo State Waste Management Authority, to request verification and accreditation.
“Also, all complaints and requests for waste evacuation should be routed through our call centre. Please call 0700 080 0700 or WhatsApp 08181900004”, he concluded.
The Oyo State Government in partnership with Mottainai Recycling Limited has met with traders and artisans to proffer collective solutions to the waste management problems.
A statement by the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr Wasiu Olatubosun in Ibadan indicated that the meeting was part of efforts to maintain a clean and healthy environment.
Earlier in his remark, the Commissioner for Information, Hon. Wasiu Olatunbosun noted that government cannot make the state clean alone without involving all the stakeholders and calling on them for support.
Also speaking at the event, the Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Abiodun Oni, urged traders and artisans to embrace the new waste management of zero waste, zero budget initiative.
He said the Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration was harnessing opportunities in public and private waste management to drive a sustainable city and urban circular economy.
The Commissioner further said that the present administration wants to make life bearable for residents with the involvement of a consultant (Mottainai Recycling Limited) to make the state clean and habitable with individual input.
“We have had this challenge of cleaning the city. We just thought that as we continue the process of keeping the city clean, we should engage the stakeholders as well”, Oni said.
“This is a new initiative that we introduced: a zero budget initiative. The people should expect a clean environment, while we also target a waste to wealth initiative”, he added.
He said the Government was strategizing such that the traders would pay a little token to get their wastes cleared, he, therefore, urged them to cooperate with the consultant, in ensuring a healthy and clean environment.
He said the State government launched the initiative to overhaul the state’s solid waste management system.
“We must be able to challenge the people and communities who produce the majority of the waste to exercise greater responsibility in the disposal of their waste, while also exploring funding strategies to address the issues”, he said.
He said, “we must be aware that we are all the recipients of personal deviations and that waste generated must be disposed off through the proper waste management channels”.
Speaking also, the Managing Director, Mottainai Recycling, Mr. Ade Adewuyi said the new initiative would allow residents to pay little or nothing for waste management.
He said his firm was set to sort and buy wastes from waste creators and generators in the state, pointing out that flooding and epidemics are caused by solid waste being dumped in various places, hence the need to ensure solid waste recycling.
Speaking on behalf of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), the Executive Chairman, Lagelu Local Government, Hon. Kazeem Gbadamosi commended the initiative, adding that the consultant needed to work with local governments in the state.
He said that waste management in the state ought to be a collective responsibility of all, urging residents to cooperate with the new consultant.
In her words, a market leader, Chief Mrs. Labake Lawal enjoined the State Government to consider the reintroduction of weekly and monthly environmental sanitation.
She equally expressed her concerns about the State’s waste management problems, adding that the Market leadership was ready to work with the State Government and the new consultant.
“Our State, like many other developing nations around the world, faces difficulties and inadequacies in waste management, which are particularly acute in Oyo State,” she said.
Government has advised healthcare facilities in Ogun state to embrace environment – friendly waste management methods for controlled waste reduction, segregation and disposal in accordance to the new Waste Management Law 2020.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Waste Management, Mr Ola Oresanya told stakeholders at a virtual meeting on Managing Wastes in the Health sector that the new approach would end unwholesome practices which posed great risks to the professionals, patients and others making use of the health facilities.
Mr Oresanya said the government, through the State Waste Management Authority OGWAMA would train health workers on the proper handling and evacuation of wastes from healthcare facilities to designated sites apart from the general dump sites in line with standard practice.
He identified the need for medical wastes to be sorted into colour bins of Red for hazardous, yellow for infectious, Brown for Chemicals and Black for general wastes to ensure proper identification of their potency and subsequent disposal.
In a reaction, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker who promised the Ministry’s support for the new approach to healthcare waste management to enhance the safety of all residents maintained that effective waste management was part of the strategy for lowering the curve of COVID-19 in the State.
Oyo State Government has revoked its contractual agreement
with West Africa Energy, due to breach of the contractual terms.
The Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr.
Kehinde Ayoola said the company has failed in its performance under the
contract it signed with Oyo State Government, which is significant enough for
the state to terminate the contract.
The Commissioner cited instances where the state capital,
Ibadan, has experienced unbearable heaps of refuse in the last four weeks,
saying the company has not lived up to expectation in cleaning the city.
Mr. Ayoola said, being the main employer of the contractor,
Oyo State Government has deemed it fit to relieve West Africa Energy of its
duties, so as to ensure efficient waste management in the state.
He assured residents that the state government was taking holistic measures to ensure the state experiences a turn-around in the environmental sector, as well as, creating wealth from waste.
