By Ibrahim Adam The Nation
Lagos State Government has reiterated its commitment to enforcing the ban on single-use plastics to protect the environment and improve infrastructure.
Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, stated this yesterday during an inspectionof ongoing flood control projects at Odo Iyalaro System 1 and other areas.
Wahab said the response had been positive, with advocacy and engagements over 18 months.
鈥淭he response has been good because we have done the advocacy for 18 months, and the engagement has been very consistent. We are also ramping up our advocacy on the radio and television,鈥 he said.
He said the government embarked on the tour to assess the projects in the vicinity.
鈥淚t has been raining for the past few days, and, then, the feedback we are getting is very heartwarming, but that is not enough for us to now fold our hands. So, what we did this morning was to go do on the spot assessment for our projects. Like four months ago, we went to Odo-Iyalaro System 1 behind Sheraton, one of the outlets for it.
鈥淣othing was done then. They had not even started, we just awarded it, and I am glad when we got there today, they have done like 45 to 46 per cent of the job. They have done the tripasoda 25 metres that will discharge into the downstream, passing through under the new bridge,鈥 he said.
He added that the other project awarded around Ogudu would start installation soonest.
鈥淲e came to the other leg of it, around Ogudu, to see what they are doing. I think that鈥檚 a very critical part of the project we awarded, and you saw the sheet piles they are making to start installation. We have enough logistics to discuss with them this week, so they can start their installation,鈥 he said.
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Wahab, who said they got a hint that some people were building on the Right of Way (RoW), said they would be served notices to desist from doing so.
鈥淲e came to this Adisa channel here in Alapere. We got a whistle blower information that it has been encroached on, that people are trying to build on the alignment and the RoW.
鈥淪o, we鈥檙e just going to see it for ourselves and then serve them notices, and let them just please not encroach on the RoW for this critical channel discharging its own neighbourhood.
鈥淲e also noticed that some places are already making a makeshift dust bin around their houses, so we will serve the houses so they can desist from doing that. We don鈥檛 want to wake up and realise there is a dump site around the place,鈥 he added
When asked the duration of the projects, Wahab said it would take 24 months, appealing to residents to stop encroaching on the RoW.