Lagosians to pay more for waste disposal as LAWMA mulls 50% increase from Oct

The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has suggested that starting form October 1 the fee for waste removal may rise by 50%.

Mr. Ibrahim Odumboni, managing director of LAWMA, dropped the clue, at a news conference in Lagos, on Wednesday.

The conference discussed the activities of the agency in the current year, recent difficulties, solutions, and sustainability measures that had been implemented,

According to Odumboni, the increase was necessary due to the increased operational costs, and administrative costs, particularly the cost of diesel and spare parts for the trucks that waste managers use to transport waste.

Read also: Make money from your wastes, don’t dump them in canals, LAWMA tells Lagosians

Given these facts, he added, a tariff review was being considered, and a price increase of almost 50% would start on October 1.

He claimed that even though Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration intended to provide fuel subsidies to the Private Sector Participants (PSP) in the state’s trash disposal system, a review of waste disposal tariffs had become essential.

According to Odumboni, the recent increase in diesel prices, excessive rains, and a terrible attitude toward waste management all significantly increased operating costs.

He further asserted that the PSP operators and residents’ organisations will be permitted to set residential waste tariff increases, which LAWMA has set at a maximum of 50%.

“PSP, CDA/CDC and LAWMA will take part in the review process, we want to appeal to tenements, the quicker we resolve this the better it will be for us in terms of the percentage increase”.

The prolapsed increase in cost of waste disposal is coming at a time many Lagosians are lamenting the activities of the PSP operators.

Uncollected refuse has littered many streets and homes in the state due to the inability of the operators to ensure regular collection of the wastes. They have blamed the government for closing down some dump sites in the state forcing them to make use of the only available ones left.

They complain that their trucks have to queue for days before they could be emptied at the dump sites.

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