World Environment Day: Kalejaiye Tasks Residents, Govt on Cleaner Environment
Mojisola Lawal
Head of Otumara community in Lagos Mainland Local Government of Lagos State, High chief Kehinde Kalejaiye has called on residents in the State to maintain thorough personal hygiene and a cleaner environment, noting that it is the key to a healthy living.
Kalejaiye made the call in his message to mark this year’s World Environment Day on June 5, where he also called on the State government to see to the operations of the LAWMA and other private waste managers across the state.
With the extent of refuse dumping that litters major streets across the state, he said, the PSP operators need to double up their efforts for the attainment of a cleaner Lagos.
According to him, while LAWMA workers are rarely seen, PSP operators on visit on the pay day. “There is need for the government to redefine the operations of waste managers as keeping the environment clean is a huge task and cannot be done in the day. Waste carriers in developed world operate at midnight. This is when they have all the space to themselves with no distractions. You will only wake up in the morning to see your environment clean. But reverse is the case here in Nigeria, they operate in the day, causing air pollution and environmental hazards and in spite of this, the environment remains unclean.
The Lagos State government needs to equip LAWMA and PSP operators with modern equipment with adequate motivation for the workers. Their work routine should be limited to the night. We have heard cases of many of them being knocked down on the highways but if they operate only at night when the roads are free of traffic and commuters, they will have the freedom to move around at will and discharge their duty excellently. Also waste receptacles should be stationed at strategic locations across the state. This should not be seen only in highbrow areas, low income areas and markets across the state need the waste receptacles even more the highbrow areas because this is where bulk of the waste are generated.”
Kalejaiye also called for the inclusion of practical aspect of environmental management in the State’s educational curriculum.
According to him, if our children are taught civic responsibilities which include personal and environmental management, the impact of this will be felt on the larger society.
“Therein they will learn how not to dump waste on the street and the importance of keeping their environment clean. This is what they will grow up with to become responsible adults. I am therefore appealing to the Lagos State government to include the practical aspect of environmental cleaning in the school curriculum in order to catch our children young.”
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