Mile 12 Market traders want LAWMA to deploy more trucks for refuse evacuation

The Mile 12 Market Traders’ Association on Monday appealed to the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) to increase the number of trucks evacuating refuse in the market.

The association’s Chairman, Alhaji Haruna Mohammed, said in Lagos that a single truck allotted by LAWMA to the market was inadequate.

He said: “Based on the peculiarity of the market, we appeal to LAWMA to increase the truck stationed at the market to two or three trucks daily.

“The Mile 12 market is different from other markets in Lagos due to the influx of trucks with goods from different parts of the country.

“Most of these goods are perishable items, thus the volume of waste generated is much.

“Most times, the LAWMA truck stationed to evacuate refuse from the market stays for three days overfilled with waste.

“This situation is not proper because the stench from the waste can be hazardous to the health of the traders, customers and the residents close to the market,” he said.

When contacted, Mr Ola Oresanya, the Managing Director, LAWMA, said that the traders’ position was not true.

Oresanya said that the truck evacuates the quantum of waste generated from the market to the dumpsite daily.

“We move the quantum of waste from Mile 12 market to the dumpsite every night. We discharge our duty promptly,” he said.

According to him, the agency considers several factors and logistics before deploying trucks to a market.

“Nobody will ever admit that they have enough of everything. Our people should learn to appreciate the government for the service it’s rendering.

“To rent a trailer per day ranges from N150, 000 and above, multiply that by 30 days and you will see that it’s much.

“What it cost us to service Mile 12 market alone is above N7.5 million monthly and the market pays about N400, 000 for refuse rate monthly.

“Some of these markets do not even pay regularly even when the government has highly subsidized the rate.

“The government holds sanitation as a core area of focus and it is spending a lot to ensure that every market is clean,” Oresanya said.