Refuse Collection: Lagos Residents Want Ban On Wheellbarrows

Some residents of Oke-
Afa, Isolo, in Lagos have urged the Lagos State Government to ban the collection of refuse with wheelbarrows, to curb air pollution and blockage of public drains.
They told newsmen in separate interviews that such practice had brought back the indiscriminate dumping of refuse in some streets in the area.
Mr Godwin Sanusi, a businessman, who lives at Toyin-Adebiyi Street, Oke-Afa, said that the wheelbarrow refuse collectors had turned some streets in the area to refuse dump sites.
He said efforts should be made to stop the menace, adding that all Lagos residents should be made to engage in disposing their refuse through the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) scheme.
“Government should ban those using wheelbarrows to collect refuse, since those refuse end up in street corners. “My street has been turned into a refuse dump by those boys that collect refuse from residents with wheelbarrows.
“I believe that the solution will be for government to ensure that only LAWMA trucks collect refuse throughout the Lagos metropolis,’’ Sanusi said.
A bean cake seller at Okeafa, Mrs Agatha Ezennaya, told our correspndent that those collecting refuse with wheelbarrows, usually dumped the refuse inside gutters and they perpetrate the act very early in the mornings.
“The wheelbarrow refuse collectors perpetrate this act early in the mornings. They collect refuse and instead of disposing it at the appropriate waste collection centre, they find convenient areas to dump them.
“Government should arrest anyone seen collecting refuse with wheelbarrows or they should be made to properly dispose it,’’ Ezennaya said.
A resident of Oke-Afa, Mrs Theresa Elemo, said that the wheelbarrow refuse collectors should be stopped, to avoid air pollution in residential areas.
She added that the indiscriminate dumping of refuse inside gutters by the wheelbarrow refuse collectors would cause blockage of the drains during the rainy season.
“Government should, therefore, totally prohibit all from collecting refuse with wheelbarrows, to stop the indiscriminate dumping of refuse in gutters and avoid air pollution,’’ Elemo added.