Waste managers seek increase in tariff

Credit: NAN

The Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria (AWAMN) has called on the government to implement cost reflective tariff for business sustainability.

The President of AWAMN, Olugbenga Adebola, in a media interaction  on Tuesday in Lagos, described cost recovery as important to the preservation of any business.

He said effective and efficient waste management cannot be achieved without cost reflective tariff.

Adebola noted that any business without cost reflective tariff would die a natural death.

“That is why the telecommunication companies of this world, DSTV, even the Generation Companies (GENCos) of this world are charging cost reflective tariff.

“The GENCos’s run a system of regular increment in the service charge based on the exchange rate and  the prevailing rate of inflation in the country

“This is not what is obtainable in the waste management sector.

“How can we recover the cost with the present system of tariff that is not cost reflective. What role is the government going to play because there will always be subsidy!

“In fact, there is subsidy all over the world. They say that the rich subsidises the poor. That is what happens with cost recovery within the waste management industry,” Adebola said.

He said the last increment in the low area was in 2022  when the price of diesel was N600, noting that the price of diesel jumped to N1,700.

“Thank God for the intervention of the Dangote Refinery, it came down to N1,500 and then N1,300 per litre and that is where we are.

“Yet, there has not been any single increment on what is chargeable for waste services.

“Every activity or every operation within the waste management value chain is dollarised. The truck that is going to be brought in is going to be calculated under the current exchange rate,” Adebola said.

He explained that AWAMN, as an association, already had a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to bring in over  50 million euros to fund infrastructure.

Adebola said the MoU was to support effective and efficient waste management, waste treatment and recycling including the purchase of trucks for waste collection.

He added that it covers transportation and disposal, including segregation and recycling.

“But you know the problem, it is the same cost recovery issue.

“If you are not able to recover a reasonable cost , how are you going to pay back such a loan?

“Till now, what is chargeable within the waste management industry is not cost- reflective tariff,” Adebola said.

He said the subsidies given to the operators because of their numbers did not translate to anything.

“Some will get for N200,000, N300,000,  N400,000 and N500,000, depending on the area of operation. And I tell you, this cannot take you home to anywhere. For example, one single tyre will go for N400,000 when you have problems.

“In 2023, we did an analysis of what it cost to run a single waste truck on the streets of Lagos.

“We took into cognisance the cost of diesel, the cost of labour, the cost of wear and tear, and the cost of all other hydraulics.

“At that time, the cost of diesel was N1,200. For any single truck you see on the road to do one trip, you need an average of N167,000 to N180,000.

“Can somebody guarantee that the money collected to load one truck is up to N150,000? It is not. Sometimes, it is not up to N70,000;  but the cost of operations has gone up to N170,000.

“These are the issues; tenements must pay,” Adebola said.