The morning fire on Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at Olusosun dumpsite in Lagos burnt seven buses belonging to LAGBUS Asset Management Limited, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has learnt.
A LAGBUS official, who pleaded anonymity, told NAN on Thursday in Lagos that, due to the thick smoke still surrounding the area, the company was yet to make further assessment of losses suffered.
The official said that the firm had moved staff away from the area because of the health implications of the smoky environment.
According to a NAN correspondent who visited the site, the environment is still very foggy as emergency response teams are seen with nose masks.
Commuters at the Toll Gate bus stop near the dumpsite were also seen covering their noses with handkerchiefs and seeking quick exit out of the environment.
Mr Adesina Tiamiyu, the General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), told NAN that there was no casualty in the inferno.
Tiamiyu said that the emergency response teams, including the Lagos Fire Service and the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), were at the site to curtail the fire.
NAN reports that the Lagos State Government had said that the Olusosun and other dumpsites would be shut down as part of the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI).
The government had through an Environmental Utility Firm, Visionscape Sanitation Solutions, commenced the construction of the first engineered sanitary landfill in Epe.
However, the CLI on its website said it was necessary to clarify that the fire at Olusosun dumpsite was not an arson.
It said that the fire broke out as a result of pockets of unstable gases caused by indiscriminate dumping which was further compounded by the dry weather.
”It is important to note that a major aim of the Cleaner Lagos Initiative is to eventually shut down the unsanitary dumpsite at Olusosun.
”The government is well aware of the risk of having such a massive, unsafe, and unsanitary landfill so close to residential areas.
”This is why under the CLI, three Engineered Landfills in Epe and Ikorodu have been concessioned for construction and maintenance.
”We expect for the first to be fully operational by early 2019, although it is already being used as a viable alternative to these dumpsites,” it said.
By Augusta Uchediunor and Florence Onuegbu
