The Lagos State Government has proposed a new model in its approach to environmental waste management.
According
to the state government, Olusosun, a popular landfill that has been a
dumping ground for years, will soon become a model for the urban renewal
and waste to wealth initiatives being undertaken by the state.
The
Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, while
announcing the inauguration of the ‘Cleaner Lagos Initiative’, said the
government was committed to finding renewable energy sources for the
grossly underserved parts of the state.
Adejare said that five
new power stations, one in each division of the state, would be built to
generate electricity from waste, and that the numerous dumpsites
dotting the state would soon be a thing of the past.
He added,
“We are serious about meeting Lagos’ electricity needs because power is
the key to economic freedom; we have shown in the past that renewable
energy projects can work in Lagos with the use of solar energy, but we
have only just begun.
“We must harness expertise from the private
sector and utility partners to work with us as we move towards a
cleaner, healthier and sustainable Lagos. We will close down Olusosun
and Solus dumpsites sometime next year. Dumpsites are dangerous to
health and the environment. The leachate and gas to be recovered from
the proposed sanitary landfills will be put to good use.”
He
stated that the state planned to regenerate Olusosun and turn it into a
park, where intercity buses would end their journey and would no longer
be allowed to enter into the city.
“Passengers will from there take taxis and intra-city buses to their destinations in town,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment