The Apapa Branch of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) says it has begun to deploy new technology on waste management in Lagos State.

The branch chairman, Christian Ufot, who announced this during the monthly general meeting of the branch in Lagos on Wednesday, said that the NSE was collaborating with a private technology firm to develop an app on waste management in the state.

Mr Ufot appealed to Lagos residents to support the government’s effort to avert flooding and also called for attitudinal change among residents who usually used drainage channels as refuse cans.

The branch chairman acknowledged that the state government was currently cleaning some major canals.

“But some residents have formed the habit of pouring refuse into gutters, whenever it rained, for it to be washed away without realising the damage.

“Such wastes usually end up clogging the canals and the lagoon to cause flooding and compound other environmental issues.

“I see equipment clearing canals all around but our people need to desist from the habit of pouring trash into gutters, on the roads and anyhow,” he lamented.

Mr Ufot said that the long-term goal of the NSE is to create several waste-to-wealth value chains to make refuse a money-spinner and create job opportunities while making the environment habitable.

“By the time someone realises that the refuse he wants to dispose of indiscriminately is money, he will have a rethink and support recycling,” the chairman noted.

He said that the technological partnership had reached an advanced stage and that the state government would be brought in to ensure proper waste management.