Anambra Govt Negotiating with 3 Foreign Firms for Conversion of Wastes to Power-ASWAMA Boss

By Praise Chinecherem

Talks are currently at an advanced stage between Anambra Government and three foreign investors for the conversion of wastes generated across the state to electricity to power major cities of the state.

Managing Director, Anambra State Waste Management Authority, ASWAMA, Chief Mike Ozoemena made the disclosure in a chat with newsmen in his office in Awka, to provide updates on the activities of the agency.

Anambra state with its waste generation capacity of three metric tons per day, has battled with issues around waste management, with the commercial city of Onitsha, at one time emerging the dirtiest city in the country.

The challenge battled by the state government include blockage of water channels by plastics and other non-decayable wastes, as well as indiscriminate dumping of refuse across the state, resulting in both pollution and health risks for the residents.

During the media chat, the ASWAMA MD, Chief Ozoemena revealed that the state government has handled the first and second phase of its waste management efforts, which entailed clearing parts of the state of agelong dumps that pose an eyesore and health hazards to citizens.

Ozoemena disclosed that the next phase is the arrangement for proper waste disposal, evacuation and recycling or conversion.

He revealed that through the waste-to-wealth initiative of the state government, the challenge of plastics has become a thing of the past, as the people now see it as a business, adding that the three foreign companies currently in talks with the government will pursue a turnaround in the state’s waste management effort.

According to him, the arrangement will help keep the state clean, provide the needed electricity to power households and industries, while also creating avenues for the residents to make money through the sale of their wastes.

“If you observe closely, you will see that plastic is now big business in the state, and it is the effort we have made in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, and other partners.

“In Onitsha and Nkpor, we have about three or four companies working in the area of plastic recycling. You see that if there is an occasion, by the time you are done, the whole plastics will disappear, unlike before when they are littered everywhere and they end up in our drainages.

“We are discussing with three companies to convert waste generated in Anambra to Biogas. You will see that we won’t have enough waste in Anambra by the time they start working. This is part of the next level which is Gear 3.

“The initiative is capital-intensive and not something the state government can undertake due to the technicality.

“So, we are discussing with three foreign companies on that, who are very serious. We have given the volume of waste we generate daily, which is about 4,000 metric tons. When this comes on stream, we would see that the state will be cleaner, power would be generated and money will come in,” he noted.

The ASWAMA boss expressed concerns over the people’s negative attitude towards payment of sanitation levies, noting that there is no way the government can effectively tackle the menace of waste without the people’s support.

According to him, the state is charging the lowest in terms of sanitation levy, yet the residents are finding it difficult to pay.

“What we have is that people still want to eat Omelette without breaking an egg. Many don’t know that the little monies they pay is not enough to run diesel at N1,350 per litre for waste evacuation for one month.

“Anambra is charging about N7,500 for a flat and it is not enough.

“It’s been hell dealing with our people but we hope that as we improve our services, they must understand that they have a role in the effort to make the state clean. And the role is that the people must pay because government cannot do these things alone. Waste management is services rendered directly to the people, which must be paid for,” he said.

Ozoemena also revealed that part of the next phase in waste management in the state is meeting the waste at the point of generation, where the waste contractors pick the wastes directly from the houses.

According to him, to achieve that, every household or building must have a waste bin which will enable them to contain your waste until the evacuators come.

He said, “We are going to meet with the landlords to decide the days which we would be visiting specific localities and we would be religious about it.

“The reason we must adopt this measure is because of the complaints we have from occupants of buildings about the siting of public dumps in front of their buildings due to the health hazards they constitute.

“So, if we can pick these wastes at the point of generation, we would have addressed a major issue.”