In a statement from issued on Thursday, the State Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, said in line with the State’s zero tolerance policy on violation of its environmental laws, and the on-going “Operation Clean Lagos” campaign, this month’s exercise will also involve advocacy visits to flood plain areas.
He declared that the present administration is determined to clamp down on all infractions like shanties, illegal overhanging structures, attachments to all tenements and obstruction to drainage channels on setbacks or right of way in violation of the prescribed distances from the highway in its renewed cleanup campaign.
The commissioner reiterated that, in response to the Annual Flooding Outlook and Rainfall Prediction released by the Nigeria Metrological Agency (NiMET) and Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) and the subsequent Seasonal Rainfall Prediction, the State Government appealed for support of all residents on the need to clear and clean up their premises, especially drainage channels and canals across the State, so as to avert any unforeseen outbreak of diseases and flooding.
According to him, “Lagos being a coastal state with high water levels and flat terrain is susceptible to flooding. We must therefore imbibe habits which will reduce to the barest minimum the incidence of flooding, which has so far been contained in the state.”
The commissioner advised residents to desist from illegal acts like dumping solid waste into drainages and canals, building on drainage alignments and patronising cart pushers in order to continuously sustain a flood-free Lagos, reiterating that all refuse should be disposed through LAWMA/PSP Operators.
Adejare implored Lagosians to come out en-mass on Saturday to clean and clear the drains in their neighbourhood so as to ensure free flow of rain water, noting that “flash flooding maybe experienced in some parts of the state, but would disappear within a short period of time after rainfall.”
He warned inter-state and luxurious bus operators, commercial transport and all other vehicle owners to comply with the restriction order on human and vehicular movement between 7.00am-10.00am, stating that anyone caught violating this order would be apprehended and prosecuted according to the State’s Environmental Sanitation Laws.
•Photo shows Governor Ambode.
