Lagos state government through the ministry of environment has clamped down on over two thousand offenders for violating various environmental laws in the state.
The state for the Environment, Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti also issued a warning to residents of the state to desist from the act of indiscriminate dumping of refuse as such offence will no longer be tolerated.
Speaking at a ministerial press briefing at the state capital, Alausa, the commissioner said operatives of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) arrested 2,097 environmental offenders, for committing different offences like illegal street trading, hawking, highway pedestrian defaulting, polluting the environment and cart-pushing.
In his own words, “We have continued to monitor industrial facilities based on indicators such as Chemical Storage Permit, Environmental Audit Report, Petroleum Storage, Solid Waste Management and use of Personal Protective Equipment etc. Sixty-three percent of the eighty-one (81) industrial facilities monitored in the last one year were satisfactory while thirty-eight percent were unsatisfactory, thereby leading to the issuance of non-compliance notices to Two hundred and nine (209) facilities due to their recurring environmental issues”.
Speaking on the Cleaner Lagos Initiative, Etti assured efforts are being made to ensure the scheme is a success as he assures environmental challenges will soon become a thing of the past.
“Very soon, Lagos will be very clean. We are working hard in partnership with all stakeholders to ensure we address the challenges. Both the government and the residents will jointly address the challenges and with Visionscape and the Private Sector Participation (PSP) operators working together, and the cooperation of the people, the challenges would soon be over.
“We know that our population is increasing as available statistics indicate that 85 people enter Lagos every hour and very few of them go back, and as more people come in, the waste generated in the State is also increasing but we are working to put the right infrastructure and equipment in place to address waste management.
“However, one thing I can assure the people is that we are working and in another one month before the raining season, it will be over. We know that the raining season is fast approaching and we are also preparing but I like to assure that soon, the challenges will be surmounted”, He said.
