Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos
State on Wednesday signed the sweeping Environmental Management and Protection
Bill into law, thereby empowering the state to overhaul the state’s
environmental, waste management and handling practices. The environmental bill
harmonizes all existing environmental laws and takes on environmental concerns
that were not expressly addressed in the previous laws governing the sector.
At the signing ceremony, Governor
Ambode said, “I am delighted that our bill has been signed into law. Under this
initiative we have (referring to the public and private sector) worked
collectively to make laws that will result in historic environmental
victories.Our major environmental laws are outdated and do not address our
present-day challenges”.
Governor Ambode said “we exist
in a world where the protection and preservation of public health and the
environment have evolved and are primarily driven by data. We cannot compete if
our laws are based on obsolete information.”
The governor commended the Lagos
State House of Assembly on coming together despite the push back and
disagreements. “I know that the process of change may seem daunting at first
but ultimately this shows that we can achieve a lot on our own and we can join
with others for the common good of Lagos State. We have taken everyone along
the value chain into consideration from the existing PSPs, to the cart pushers
and the scavengers on the landfills. Everyone will be accommodated under this
new environmental scheme,” he said.
Governor Ambode added that the new
initiative would “create 27,500 new jobs and deploy over 500 vehicles during
the concession period. We are bringing in the expertise of world renowned
environmental groups to construct multiple engineered landfills and transform
our water and wastewater treatment sectors.”
The newly signed bill will also
drive the adoption of innovative technology to tackle existing environmental
problems specific to the state, allowing for private sector participation in
the management of the environment, therefore opening the sector to foreign and
domestic investors.
The law gives Lagos State Waste
Management Agency (LAWMA) the authority to review and regulate all waste
management activities within the state while a rebranded KAI (Kick Against
Indiscipline) which will be transformed into the Environmental Sanitation Corps
Agency will spearhead enforcement of stringent penalties imposed on defaulters.
In the new dispensation, the Lagos
State Environment Corps (LASECORPS)’s performance evaluations and remuneration
will be tied directly to the number of actionable fines they issue for
non-compliance. Also, LASECORPS will be supported by PUMAU (Public Utilities
Monitoring Assurance Unit), a unit that will have oversight responsibility by
using innovative monitoring tools to ensure the new standards are effectively
enforced.
In attendance at the bill signing
were the private sector, SEC regulated trustees who will manage the
Environmental Trust Fund including FBN Merchant Bank, Stanbic IBTC, United
Capital PLC, STL Trustees Ltd, United Trustees Ltd, Camden Yards Ltd, Union
Trust, Afrinvest, Exczellon Capital and APEL Trustees.
The passage of the bill and its
signing into law signify a monumental victory for environmental and public
health advocates who have prevailed on the government to tackle the
environmental crisis in Lagos. Supporters of the bill agree that this is an
important first step in the right direction for Lagos State.
The Lagos State Government recently
announced the Cleaner Lagos Initiative, a scheme to create value and empower
those at the bottom of the value chain. It allows citizens to finally be a part
of the solution by taking responsibility for their immediate environment while
solving the challenge of poor waste management in their communities. The
central focus of the initiative is the cleanup of the environment and a poverty
alleviation scheme that will create about 30,000 new jobs and almost 500,000
indirect jobs.
A report presented to the executive
council of Lagos State on March 3rd 2016 by an inter-ministerial committee
showed that there were significant environmental degradation and alarming
levels of pollution in the water, air and physical environment of Lagos State.
This galvanized the decision that the solid waste management system of Lagos State
needed to be fixed.
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