The Managing Director of Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) Mr Ola Oresanya has called for collaboration between stakeholders, private investors and the academia to sustain the tempo of waste management in the country.

Oresanya who spoke at a forum jointly organised by LAWMA and the United Nations Centre for Regional Development & International Partnership for Expanding the Waste Management Services of Local Authorities (UNCRD-IPLA) posited that there should be sustainable policy decisions where waste management would have its own guide for national policy formulation and articulation.

The forum was a one-day “Multi- Stakeholders Cooperation for Knowledge and Capacity Development in Waste Management” workshop.

The LAWMA boss, who canvassed an intervention that would achieve a participatory approach to waste management, said “LAWMA as the IPLA secretariat for West Africa is saddled with the responsibility of coordinating and encouraging activities that will promote and share the IPLA objectives across the African cities.

“The main aim of the international partnership is to bridge capacity technology and institutional gaps in waste management through viable technical exchange platforms as well as support local authorities and municipalities to move towards a zero waste society,” he said.

According to him, the initiative has achieved coordination of waste management activities and technical exchange amongst states and cities within and outside the country such as Ekiti, Edo, Delta, Rivers, Anambra and Kogi in Nigeria.

Oresanya “was optimistic that the collaboration would promote resource efficiency and zero waste system with the adoption of the three Rs: Reduce, Re-use and Re-cycle.

On his part, a Research Fellow in the Department of Environment Management and Toxicology, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Mr. Olusegun Oguntoke stressed the need to address the issue of waste management in a holistic manner. He added that all the key players in the sector must contribute positively for a complete success in waste management.

According to Oguntoke, “Collaboration between the governments, the academia, the private sector, community and the donor agencies is very crucial to achieve success in sustainable waste management.”

       Source: Vanguard