Landlords Don’t Remit Waste Management Bills – LAWMA

Olumuyiwa Adejokun who is the Executive Chairman of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has said that Landlords in Lagos state do not remit bills paid by their tenants for waste management. In an interview with Punchng correspondent, he says residents should be fully involved in waste management by ensuring compliance with laws guiding waste disposal in the state.

Read excerpts below:

In this part of the world, there is hardly any form of continuity after a change of government. What are your plans to improve on LAWMA’s activities under this new dispensation?

In our own case, there is continuity. In terms of party, it is the same government and Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was part of the previous government and is heading this one. So, continuity is 100 per cent in Lagos State and to narrow it down to LAWMA, we are upgrading it; we are continuing from where the last regime stopped.

What are some of the programmes you met on ground and how are you working to improve on them?

Basically, what we do in LAWMA is to sweep and collect waste and wastewater. We also manage electronic waste; I didn’t meet electronic waste on ground and we have also improved on medical waste, which they were doing before; we are in the process of acquiring two machines to take care of medical waste. It is something you have to treat with care because it is extremely hazardous. We take the wastes from hospitals and process them so that they do not turn around to cause harm. The only challenge is people refusing to pay their bills. Most landlords don’t remit bills paid by their tenants for waste management despite the fact that they build it into the rent. People feel reluctant to pay for waste collection; I want to plead with everyone in Lagos State to pay their waste bills. If you can’t leave waste in your house because of the stench; then, you must pay your bills.

Still talking about revenue generation, has LAWMA started earning carbon credit from wastes?

Not at all, but we are working towards that. We are working on good enforcement; frankly, we need to do a lot of work along the line of advocacy to make people realise that they have to pay for every service they enjoy. Most people don’t want to pay, especially when they know it is from the government. But the government needs money to run the affairs of the state.

Along the line of enforcement, the state has introduced mobile courts and we are keying into that; this will serve as a deterrent to people. For markets, it is not far from what happens to commercial collection; we are in touch with their leaders, who we relate with and I can say we have a cordial relationship with them.

Read full interview HERE