The Lagos State Government has announced plans to resume the monthly sanitation exercise.
The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, made this known after an inspection tour to Idi-Araba and Orile Iganmu, Alaba Rago, noting that all residents must make good sanitation practices a daily culture and way of life.
In a statement by the spokesman for the ministry, Kunle Adeshina, the commissioner on Sunday said the state government had resolved to commence the monthly environmental sanitation exercise, adding that a formal commencement date would soon be announced publicly.
At Alaba Rago Market, Wahab recalled that enforcement officers always visited the market and that the market had been closed down sometime last year with a request that the executives of the market should do the right thing.
He said that it would be unfortunate if the market had to be closed down again due to unsanitary activities.
“They have turned the median into a waste system, to dump their waste. They have also extended the market, pushed it to the road, and blocked all the median system and the alignment.
“We have given them till tomorrow evening, afterward we’ll determine if the market should or shouldn’t be sealed,” he said.
The commissioner said the chairman of the market has agreed that they will clear up all infractions and take ownership of the infrastructure around the market insisting that if they do not comply with the stipulated time, the ministry would have no choice but to take steps to sanction them.
He sounded a note of warning to traders selling on the road, drainage setback, and road median at Alaba Rago Market, Badagry Expressway, in the Ojo Local Government Area, to move their wares into the main market and conduct their business activities in the specified space saying the government would lock the market by 6 pm on Monday if the unwholesome business activities persist.
He advised all markets across the state to take note that the Lagos State Environmental Law does not permit anyone to trade on the road or by the drainage channels as such everyone trading illegally should desist from it or else their markets would be shut down.
He also implored residents to support the government’s efforts by avoiding the unwholesome act of illegal waste disposal, saying that it was expedient for everyone to take ownership of all infrastructure provided by the government.
He reiterated that all residents must stop littering the roads, road medians, drainage, drainage setbacks, and canals with waste, adding that they must always bag their waste properly in their respective homes.
