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| Cart pushers, street traders and some residents arrested for illegal dumping of refuse on road medians and canals by the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) on Wednesday, January, 24, 2018 |
By Ayomide Ayano
Men of the Lagos
State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) have arrested 24 persons,
including cart pushers, street traders and some residents for dumping waste on
road medians and canals, contrary to the Environmental Sanitation Laws of the
State.
The suspects who have
been charged before the Special Offences Court sitting in Ogba, Ikeja, were
arrested in an early morning operation carried out by LAGESC which was recently
inaugurated by the State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode.
LAGESC Corps Marshal,
Daniel Isiofia who spoke to journalists said the suspects were arrested,
following an investigation which revealed that cart pushers and some residents
were indiscriminately dumping domestic refuse at sites not designated for waste
disposal and canals.
“Recently, there has been clamour for cleaner
Lagos and the Governor has been very keen on making Lagos clean. To this end,
he gave us a mandate to ensure that Lagos is kept clean by ensuring that acts
that lead to the city to be dirty are curbed.
“We know that there
have been massive efforts to clear the backlog of refuse on the road and our
men went on surveillance and we eventually discovered where the cart pushers
are operating at Ogunlana Street by Ogbomosho in Itire area. We raided the area
and saw the cart pushers whose job is to collect refuse on payment from some
residents who feel that they cannot dispose their refuse according to
government directive and dump on road medians and canals.
“Often times, if you
go to the canal at Itire-Ijesha area, you will see the cart pushers dumping
refuse into the canal thereby blocking the waterways which leads to flooding.
So, with the determination to stop this menace, we raided them at about 4am this morning and we succeeded in impounding 150 waste
carts used for this purpose and arrested 11 suspects while others fled”, he
said.
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| Cart pushers, street traders and some residents arrested for illegal dumping of refuse on road medians and canals by the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) on Wednesday, January, 24, 2018 |
He however advised
residents to desist from indiscriminate dumping of refuse in public places, as
well as patronizing cart pushers.
“We are going to sustain this process. I like
to advise the operators of the waste carts to know that Lagos is not a place
for them. They should leave Lagos or look for another job and to those who
patronize them, if we get them, we will charge them to court because they are
running foul of the law.
“We are appealing to
the citizens to know that a clean Lagos is a healthy Lagos. It is for the
benefits of all of us for our environment to be clean. Some people see us as
enemies but we are not; we are only doing this job for the benefit of all.
“We are partners in
progress; Lagosians should assist us. Governor Ambode too has pleaded with the
people to support the bid to make Lagos clean and we are joining the Governor
to appeal to people to desist from indiscriminate dumping of waste and make
Lagos a very clean city,” Isiofia said.
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