Lagos community rejects waste collection fee hike, cites poor service

Residents of the Ajao Estate area of Lagos have rejected an increase in monthly waste collection charges, accusing their waste management service provider of imposing the hike despite months of poor and irregular refuse collection.

The residents said they were shocked to find notices announcing the new charges pasted on their doors, describing the increase as unjustifiable given what they claimed had been four to five months of inconsistent service.

Speaking on behalf of the residents on Thursday, the chairman of the state, Olu Isijola, said the company had repeatedly failed to evacuate refuse, sometimes leaving waste uncollected for one to two weeks.

He said residents had continued paying the existing fee despite the irregular service and questioned the rationale behind the increase.

He said, “We just saw an unexpected notice placed on our doors, announcing an increment in the monthly refuse collection fee.

“In fact, this company has been neglecting us for over four or five months. Sometimes they won’t come for a whole week or even two weeks. When they eventually come, they give excuses that they have problems somewhere.

“Now, what we are having is an increment, so we consider it unjustifiable. They were not collecting our refuse regularly, yet we still paid them. Now, we are saying no.”

The estate chairman also decried the poor condition of roads within the community, lamenting that residents were being asked to pay more despite the absence of basic service improvements.

 “Apart from the fact that the road is completely messed up, this street is in a very bad condition. We are now talking about refuse again. We are in a dilemma.

“A place so close to the airport should be an ideal place where refuse is collected at the right time, and the roads are in good condition. We are not happy.

“We demand that they should keep the fee at what we have been paying. You increase payment when you improve service. When there is no improvement in the service, you don’t just impose an increase.

“If they have their own challenges, they should not transfer those problems to us. We are really suffering here because the refuse is not being collected,” he said.

The residents also criticised the company for introducing the increase without prior consultation or adequate notice.

“As good business practice, they should have given us notice and engaged us before reviewing the charges. Not just compel us to pay. If there was competition, they wouldn’t do that,” the chairman added.

He urged the waste management company to suspend the increase, improve refuse collection across the estate and engage residents before implementing it.

However, the notice seen by PidomNigeria Metro showed that the service provider acknowledged the disruption in waste collection and attributed it to challenges with waste disposal infrastructure in Lagos.

In the notice titled “Marginal Tariff Review,” the company apologised to customers for the inconsistent service experienced in recent weeks.

“We sincerely apologise for the challenge in our service gap in the last several weeks; that service was inconsistent. This is due to the infrastructural challenge of the disposal site in Lagos,” the notice read.

The company said it had been left with no option but to introduce a “marginal” 33 per cent increase in its tariff, representing an additional N2,000 for flat occupants.

According to the notice, the last tariff review was carried out in March 2024 when diesel sold for about N800 per litre, compared to the current price of between N1,700 and N2,000 per litre.

It also explained that the closure of nearby disposal sites had forced its trucks to travel to Ikorodu, about 53 kilometres from Ajao Estate, or Badagry, nearly 100 kilometres away, thereby increasing operational costs, including vehicle maintenance, staff wages and other logistics.

“We seek your understanding this time to embrace this marginal increase to survive and continue to offer services seamlessly,” the notice stated.

The company added that pending the completion of repairs to government disposal facilities, waste would be evacuated once every two weeks and advised residents of multi-flat buildings to acquire additional waste bins and ensure refuse was properly bagged for collection.

Under the revised tariff, occupants of flats are to pay N8,000 monthly, wing duplexes N9,000, standard duplexes N10,000 and mini flats N5,500.

Despite the explanation, residents insisted that the increase was ill-timed and unfair.

Another resident, who identified himself simply as Clinton, also faulted the increase in a WhatsApp message seen by our correspondent.

He wrote, “I just noticed that LAWMA has pasted a notice of waste disposal increase from N6,000 per flat per month to N8,000.

“It is worrisome that after abandoning waste disposal since March and only being able to dispose of the waste last week, the next thing is an increment. Isn’t this insensitive enough for us to say no?

“We kept paying while they weren’t doing their jobs. No apologies, no explanations, and certainly no form of compensation. All they could do was increase the charges.”