LAGOS GOVT WARNS RESIDENTS AGAINST VIOLATING ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS
Read Time:2 Minute, 35 Second
The Lagos State Government has warned residents of the State to desist from unhealthy environmental practices that could undermine the government’s effort to protect the environment against degradation and other climate change effects.
The State government added that its various agencies on environmental sustainability have been empowered to prosecute individuals or organisations that may be caught degrading the environment in any form.
The State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab gave the charge recently during a Ministerial Press briefing organised to commemorate the first anniversary of the governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu’s second term in office.
Speaking further at the briefing held at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, the Commissioner revealed that the State government is committing huge resources to environmental protection against all forms of degradation, especially, the fight against climate change and its attendant effects on human health and the ecosystem.
He revealed that the State government would intensify efforts on enforcement to ensure compliance with the environmental laws to achieve a vision for a sustainable environment.
Wahab disclosed that the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), which acts like the State environmental police had, in the last three months, carried out 367 enforcement operations in households, markets, hotels, warehouses, sales points, industries, worship centres, night clubs and other places for various environmental violations, while abatement notices were served on others for discharging raw sewage into the Lagoon.
He warned that LASEPA has been empowered more than before to ensure total compliance with State environmental laws 2017 across the State to safeguard the environment against further degradation because of its consequences on human health and the ecosystem.
The Commissioner, who further explained that various enforcement operations carried out by his Ministry and its agencies across the State were in the interest of the public, noted that the State government would not fold its alms while allowing selfish few to continue undermining its reform efforts in preserving the environment for a better living and sustainable growth.
Wahab, who expressed worry over poor air quality levels in many parts of the State as contained in LASEPA’s weekly reports of the Air Quality Index of the State, warned against unfriendly environmental behaviours that could trigger climate change action.
He stressed the need for green and improved air quality across the State to ensure healthy living for the citizenry, noting that the present air quality in many parts of the State as indicated in LASEPA’s report of the State’s Air Quality Index is unhealthy.
The Commissioner also highlighted some likely consequences of poor air quality as indicated in the index, stating that people in the affected areas may suffer from respiratory-related diseases such as lung infections, asthma, cystic fibrosis, mesothelioma, pulmonary hypertension and running nose among others.
He therefore warned against activities that may lead to air pollution such as generator and vehicular emissions, industrial and agricultural activities including burning of cow skin and electronic wastes and bush burning among others. He urged people to join the State government’s various advocacy programmes targeted at improving the state of the environment for the better.
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