The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has put business activities on hold at the popular Oyingbo Market over sundry environmental infractions.

The Managing Director of LAWMA, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, said in a statement on Thursday that the infractions included indiscriminate refuse dumping and refusal to patronise Private Sector Participation operators.

Others were roadside trading and poor hygienic practices resulting in serious environmental problems in the area.

Gbadegesin said that an abatement notice and several warnings issued to the traders yielded no result, thus necessitating the closure.

He said that the market would be reopened when traders began to comply with the government’s rules and regulations by shunning indiscriminate refuse disposal and patronising assigned PSP operators.

The LAWMA boss appealed to other markets in the state to imbibe the culture of effective waste disposal as markets whose activities are found detrimental to the health and environmental well being of the populace would be shut down until further notice.

According to him, efforts of the state government to enthrone a sustainable environment are being undermined by some individuals who will rather dump refuse in unauthorised locations, hence the need for total enforcement.

“The act of indiscriminate refuse disposal in the city poses a grave danger to public health and economic growth.

(Daily Independent)