The Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, on Thursday, sealed an ongoing construction building for stacking materials on the drainage system.

The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, gave the order during an inspection of projects and sites in Lagos Island and environs.

Mr Wahab who was displeased with the activities going on in the area, said the materials were blocking the drainage system, hence the seal.

The sealed building is at No. 109, Alakoro Street. in Lagos Island.

“They are stacking their materials on the road and our drainage system. The materials were stacked on our drainage system, and it is not allowed. They block the drainage system by doing that, so that is why we say they should serve the notices, so they can move those materials and clean the system, and then we will unseal them,” he said.

Talking about the visit and inspection on Lagos Island, Mr Wahab said the visit was aimed at regeneration of the area.

“This is a different section of Lagos Island and this should be our second or third time on this axis of Lagos Island. Thankfully, the state government through Governor. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has awarded the regeneration of Lagos Island drainage system, and even the road infrastructure. But we also noticed there are one or two areas, and collectors that are very critical to deflooding Lagos Island which were not captured in that plan.

“So, this morning we are here to look at this Olusi Bombata, collector as well as the Alagbafo collector, and what we all saw is not something we are happy about,” he said.

He added that people had wilfully built on the collectors which was disappointing, saying it would be difficult to maintain the infrastructures if built on it.

“We are not happy with what we saw because people have wilfully built on it, and when you build on those infrastructures, how do you expect us to maintain those infrastructures? They have abused those infrastructures and the job giving directive to the appropriate department is to serve the notices. By the weekend, we will return to see the level of compliance. You can’t, and we won’t allow anybody to make this state one where life becomes nasty, brutish and short,” he said.

He added that the public infrastructure was built for public use, assuring that it would be stopped.

“We are going to clear those things and then keep the maintenance going, then find a way to re-award or award the contract,” he said.

Asked if the local governments were in sync with the ministry over the cleanup of the environment, Mr Wahab said they had been cooperating fully well with the ministry.

He added, “Thankfully, in Lagos, we work with our local governments, though there are still some gaps we have to iron out but the markets are exclusively under the local government. However, that does not give them the power or rights to infringe on a law like the environmental law of the state, that provides for the setback that must be allowed between a collector and a builder. That’s what we are just trying to enforce here. We are not having issues with our local government. If anything, we have had the most wonderful relationship with our local government.’’

Mr Wahab added that the state would continue to advocate and enforce the law to ensure a clean environment.

“Continuous advocacy and enforcement is key because a lot of people feel that the government waits for them to build on that bridge before going in. The wheel of justice may be slow, but it usually grinds to a halt somehow. So we keep advocating that they should not do it, because some people are just recalcitrant. They are incorrigible, so for those persons, they would deliberately do it, believing the government would never come and whenever we come or we observe it, we remove it. We are always slow to wield a big stick, but we emphasise more on the advocacy this year,” he said.

He added that the advocacy would be an ongoing programme like for the styrofoams among others.

“We will continue the enlightenment, like we are doing for styrofoam and single-use plastics which is going to be phased out this year, with other kinds of things that we don’t want in the states. We must collectively protect the states and the citizens must take ownership and make us achieve that,” he said.

The areas visited in Lagos Island by the commissioner and his team were Salvage lane, Elagbata, Ebute Ero, Alakoro and Oke Arin, among others.

(NAN)