January 25, 2016 – The Lagos State Government has issued what appears like a final zero tolerance warning on Illegal Street trading and hawking in the state.
Commissioner for Environment, Dr, Babatunde Adejare, said the warning had become very urgent in view of the recent discovery of a case of Lassa fever and the impending rainy season.
The Commissioner said the street traders were not only degrading the state’s environment in disregard of the extant laws, but engaging in criminal activities of armed robbery, child abuse, destitution, compounding the traffic gridlocks and vandalising valuable infrastructure put in place with tax payer’s money.
Adejare disclosed that the state government has given the reinvigorated KAI Brigade and the Task Force, assisted by other law enforcement agencies, the marching order to bring to book and clamp down on all violators of its environmental laws, which does not permit anyone to convert the roads, medians, set-backs, and walkways into illegal markets..
He lamented that ‘’It is regrettable that the illegal hawkers and street traders had not heeded the enlightenment and advocacy messages from the Ministry on the need to keep the state’s environment clean and safe to attract more investors and boost the economy of the state.
The Commissioner further disclosed that all the agencies of the Ministry, the PSP operators and non-governmental partners have been fully mobilized with men and equipment to ensure round-the-clock monitoring and enforcement for a sustainable environment.
Adejare, who is a medical Doctor said that ‘’to halt the spread of Lassa Fever, Lagosians must maintain personal hygiene, proper sanitation in their environment, especially clean-up of the vegetation in their premises , and proper bagging and disposal of waste to keep off the wild vector rats spreading the virus.’’
Adejare advised residents experiencing Lassa hemorrhagic fever symptoms of headache, sore throat, cough, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain to seek the assistance of a medical doctor immediately.
The Commissioner appealed to the residents not to patronize cart pushers who improperly dispose waste illegally collected in unauthorized places and capable of hosting the deadly rodents spreading the deadly Lassa fever virus.
He cautioned that improper display and disposal of cooked or uncooked food items will no longer be tolerated, as environmental health officers have been deployed to monitor markets, public places and homes to curb open defecation and urination as well as indiscriminate dumping of refuse and litters in the environment.
Dr Adejare assured Lagosians that the state government remained unwaivering in its commitment to a clean and hygienic environment, adding, ‘’ we need to respect our environment, so as not to incur the wrath of nature. ’’He added that ‘’a clean, safe and healthy environment will promote economic growth and well-being of the citizenry.’’
The Commissioner said that his Ministry was putting in place pro-active measures to contain any eventuality arising from the unstable weather conditions associated with threats from local and global climate change .This, he said, include massive on-going construction,clearing,maintenance,dredging and lining of primary and secondary drainage canals and channels.
He gave a stern warning about flagrant environmental abuses in some markets like Ladipo, where he said “drainage alignments had been converted to stalls and roads indiscriminately taken over by wares and refuse dumps”.
The Commissioner also appealed to Lagosians to desist from illegal building of structures on drainage alignments, road setbacks and to promptly evacuate silted drains around their homes and adjoining premises, in order to minimize the incidences of flooding.
For the coastal zones, vulnerable and low-lying areas of the state, the commissioner repeated the usual warnings for them to move to safer grounds and be spared the disruptions from flash floods, excess flow from dams and oceans surg
