On the 28th of March 2018, I joined other environmental stakeholders on a tour to the Epe Ecopark. As a SustyVibes volunteer, this visit to Epe afforded me the opportunity to see what #CleanerLagos is doing in Epe.
Cleaner Lagos is a Lagos State Government (LASG) new environment drive. VisionScape is part of the companies working for Lagos Government under the Cleaner Lagos and they are in charge of the Epe landfill.
We got to the location and waited for the health official who took us on a tour of the dump site. We waited for more than 45 minutes before his arrival. He apologized for keeping us waiting.
Joel Ashaolu is the (HSE advisor Vision scape). He briefed us shortly before the tour.
Sumep Singh (Operation Manager at Vision Scape) told us about the innovations at the Epe Land fill; the weight bridge is one of them, and it is used to measure the weight of the tonne of waste that comes into the landfill.
Mr. Olawale who works with Lagos State Waste Management Bodies said that Epe Landfill was established in Jan. 2009. The landfill operates 24/7. The landfill is situated on 80,000 hectares of land. The weight bridge works round the clock.
At the Epe Landfill, 350 scavengers are working at the site. The scavengers are duly registered and work to identify different waste materials. Heaps of plastics recovered at the Epe Landfill is tagged (waste of value). Because of its recyclable qualities. Sumep Singh said a plan is underway to use the site for the next fifty years. The Epe landfill presently is a dump site and work is going on the site, with the intent to turn it into an Eco engineering dump site. Presently the Epe Landfill is still a dump site. The scavengers at Epe Landfill not covered up or well equipped. Mr Singh said it will take a while to get them to be covered up. That the company is already working on it. The scavengers eat and sleep on the open waste. With no regard for their health.
Ashaolu mentioned that part of the plan for Epe Landfill is to generate power from this place to the national grid in the next four years. Vision scape took over the Eplandfillll and operations kicked off in January 2018. Vision scape has been able to build a drainage channel at the entrance of the site, for easy flow of water. Kunle Akala also noted that the place is still a dump site. All vision scape waste been tipping at Epe Land fill since June 2017.
In managing Lagos waste, I gathered that VisionScape is just in charge of residential waste; Industrial waste, chemical and medical waste belong to other firms. Cleaner Lagos initiative is not a VisionScape project. It belongs to Lagos State Government. It has many facets: Waste classification WCO). Waste collector operator (CSW). Community sanitation workers. Cleaner Lagos classified waste into residential waste (Vision scape) won. This bid. The former PSP (that’s WCO) is in charge of commercial waste. Medical waste managed by another firm. Medical waste and hazardous waste managed by another firm”, Akala pointed out.
On the issue of waste that has taken all over Lagos. Akala noted that “court case that was initiated by the PSP affected their operations. In addressing the issue of waste evacuation in Lagos, Visionscape has mapped Lagos intoa cluster with 57 area managers, 250 supervisors and thousands of workers who have been employed to address this issue. We have stepped operations to reduce the waste. More trucks purchased, plastic bins have been placed in different homes and sensitization is currently going on how to dispose waste.”
The whole effort is geared towards making Lagos a cleaner state. Presently the opposite is currently happening in Lagos and VisionScape has reiterated their commitment to making things better. Time will tell.