“We are calling on the local governments and LCDAs in the state to ask the PSP operators to go back to work, and they should start paying them…”
Chinelo Obogo
Lagos State House of Assembly has disowned Visionscape, the company in charge of refuse disposal and ordered the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas (LCDAs) to call on the Private Sector Partnership (PSP) operators to take over the job with immediate effect.
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At plenary yesterday, Gbolahan Yishawu, complained about heaps of refuse littered all over the state and said an urgent action needed to be taken to remedy the situation.
Majority Leader, Sanai Agunbiade, also condemned Visionscape and said since it began operations in Lagos, the refuse situation worsened. He also said for the state to have good sanitation, a law on environmental sanitation was passed in Lagos, but it seemed it was not properly done after that.
“The refuse on the roads and streets are hazardous to the people. Flies from the refuse mix with the food people are eating.
“One day, Olusosun would not be able to accommodate refuse any longer. It would be better if we change our policy on refuse disposal.
“I suggest we challenge those in the Ministry of Health and those in the Ministry of Environment.
“We can invite the people in the environment ministry to know their challenges. This has become an eyesore in Lagos State,” he said.
Speaker Mudahsiru Obasa said the state government should to have consulted the House before the company started operation.
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“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, Akinyemi Ashade, not to pay Visionscape again, and he should return any money he paid to them, after our instruction, to the coffers of the state government. We will go to that when the time comes, but we have to do the needful now.
“We are calling on the local governments and LCDAs in the state to ask 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,” he said.
The speaker also warned those stopping people from dumping refuse at the dumpsites to desist from doing so, adding that he saw a lot of refuse trucks in a bad state and some of them have been abandoned.
“We are inviting the Lagos State commissioner for the Environment to report to us within one week. The clerk should write all the councils in the state to do the needful, and the commissioner should work on this and report to us in a week,” he said.