Lagos cautioned against hasty termination of Visionscape contract

LAGOS State Government has been urged to give Visionscape Sanitation Solutions more time to prove its capacity in the implementation of the new integrated waste management policy encapsulated in the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI), rather than hastily terminating its contract.

The Cleaner Lagos Initiative is designed to effectively manage and dispose over 13,000 tonnes of waste generated daily in the state, and provide proactive response to containing the growing rate of waste generated by per person, expected to increase from 1.2kg to 1.42kg in the next 15 years.

In a television monitored programme, a public affairs analyst, Nelson Ekujumi, and Consultant Economist, Joseph Egbeyindo, argued that hasty cancellation may be counter-productive. They argued that “Abruptly terminating the contract, aside from being hasty, also exposes the state to both reputational and financial risks. For instance, the action will adversely affect the state’s credit rating in the domestic and international market. It may impair relationship with group of investors, comprising Pension Fund Administrators (PFAS), Deposit Money Banks, and Trustees & Asset Managers with whom the state shares a longstanding relationship.

“So, rather than squander its A+ GCR and Agusto &Co. credit rating reputation on an issue that could be addressed by process restructuring, the state should systematically the strains in the State’s waste management and disposal ecosystem.”

Discussing the cleanliness of the state amid the ‘Cleaner Lagos Initiative’, both analysts opined that the mounting heap of dirt across the state is attributable to a clog in the relationship among operators in the waste management ecosystem, and not necessarily a lack of capacity on the part of Visionscape Sanitation Solution. Egbeyindo believes “there is palpable fear amongst PSP operators that Visionscape has come to take away their means of livelihood, just as the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), holds the view that the newly-appointed sanitation contractor has come to bite into its pie.” Under this atmosphere of suspicion, which triggered the war of attrition by some members of the Private Sector Participation (PSP), sabotage and lack of support, are some of the reasons the sanitation management system in Lagos seems to have collapsed. “While making Lagos dirty and embarrassing the government with swelling filth is a likely tactic to discredit Visionscape, the associated environmental and health hazards of the stalled disposal process that evacuates 13,000 tonnes of waste daily from the residents of the state is huge,” noted Ekujumi.