Waste Management: Oyo State Government, Traders, Collaborate to Proffer Solutions

From Olubunmi Osoteku, Ibadan

As part of efforts to maintain a clean and healthy environment, the Oyo State Government, in partnership with Mottainai Recycling Limited, has met with traders and artisans to proffer collective solutions to the waste management problems in the state.

At the meeting, the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Wasiu Olatunbosun, noted that government alone cannot make the state clean without the involvement of all stakeholders, calling on the stakeholders to support the government in ensuring cleanliness in the state.

On his part, the Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Abiodun Oni, urged traders and artisans to embrace the new waste management of zero waste, zero budget initiative, saying the Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration was harnessing opportunities in public and private waste management to drive sustainable city and urban circular economy.

Oni stated that the present administration meant to make life bearable for residents of the state with the involvement of a consultant (Mottainai Recycling Limited) and to make Oyo State clean and habitable with individual’s input.

He said: “We have had this challenge of cleaning the city. We just thought that as we continue the process of keeping the city clean, we should engage the stakeholders as well. This is a new initiative that we introduced: a zero budget initiative. The people should expect a clean environment, while we also target a waste to wealth initiative.”

Oni disclosed that the government was strategising, such that the traders would pay a little token to get their wastes cleared, and urged them to cooperate with the consultant in ensuring a healthy and clean environment, saying the government launched the initiative, which resulted in the overhaul of the state’s solid waste management system.

He noted: “We must be able to challenge the people and communities who produce the majority of the waste to exercise greater responsibility in the disposal of their waste, while also exploring funding strategies to address the issues. We must be aware that we are all the recipients of personal deviations and that waste generated must be disposed of through proper waste management channels.”

Speaking also, the Managing Director, Mottainai Recycling. Ade Adewuyi, disclosed that the new initiative allowed residents of the state to pay little or nothing for waste management, affirming that his firm is set to sort and buy wastes from waste creators and generators in the state.

He said flooding and epidemics are caused by solid waste being dumped in various places, therefore it is more crucial than ever to ensure solid waste recycling.

Speaking on behalf of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), the Executive Chairman, Lagelu Local Government Area, Hon. Kazeem Gbadamosi, commended the initiative, adding that the consultant needed to work with Local Government Areas in the state.

He opined that waste management in the state ought to be the collective responsibility of all, urging residents to cooperate with the new consultant.

In her words, a market leader, Labake Lawal, enjoined the state government to consider the reintroduction of weekly and monthly environmental sanitation exercise and expressed concerns over the state’s waste management problems, adding that the market leadership was ready to work with the state government and the new consultant.