The Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Babatunde Durosnmi-Etti has highlighted the state government’s commitment to providing the adequate infrastructure required, using the Visionscape initiative to support the environmental management of the burgeoning state with over 22 million residents.
The ministerial press briefing held by the Lagos State Ministry of Environment presented a progress report on the activities of the government’s environmental reforms.
Details of the briefing included the recruitment of over 13,000 Community Sanitation Workers till date to clean the inner streets, mechanised street sweeping to be managed by three private companies- Avatar, Wastecare, and Corporate Solutions, the completion of 48 mini-waterworks across the State including the implementation of innovative technology for water management, drainage maintenance remains with the Lagos State Public Works Corporation while Visionscape Sanitation Solutions in charge of constructing the first engineered sanitary landfill in Nigeria located in Epe has made marked progress on the Eco Park project.
“The Epe Landfill under construction by Visionscape is achieving remarkable progress with the completion of the weighbridge, among other facilities, while Portland Energy & Power is mobilizing to site for the commencement of work on engineered hazardous Landfill in Badagry”
Speaking on an interview with Channels TV on Wednesday, May 2, Visionscape Sanitation Solutions CEO, John Irvine, gave a succinct update on the ongoing project and described the process of excavating the waste on the 88-hectare dumpsite before construction began.
“We had to dig deeper than expected to excavate previous waste material and set up a strong foundation. We’ve built the weighbridge and the control tower. The next phase is the remediation work.” He said. The Epe EcoPark will feature a materials recovery facility, an anaerobic digestion plant, a waste to energy plant amongst other features. The company also has plans to incorporate existing landfill miners (aka scavengers) into the waste management value chain by including them in the recycling and recovery activities in the Eco Park.