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.
