Adefulire Tasks Residents of Fed. Govt. Estates

Lagos State Government has expressed concern over the lack of cooperation from Federal Government institutions, especially Federal Housing Estates in the efficient refuse management policy of the state government.

Lagos Deputy Governor, Hon. Adejoke Orelope Adefulire expressed the displeasure during the monitoring of the monthly environmental sanitation exercise at Mosan Okunola Local Council Development Area as part of the state government effort to improve on the state of the environment.

While deploring the poor state of drainage and waste disposal system at Gowon Federal Housing Estate, Abesan, Orelope regretted that though the PSP waste Management System introduced by the state government to tackle the menace of refuse was adjudged as the best practice in all civilised countries of the world, Federal Government agencies in Lagos, especially Federal Housing Estates, still refused to patronise PSP operators in disposing their wastes.

Rather than managing their waste through efficient PSP method, the Deputy Governor noted that most of the Federal Institutions still patronise cart pushers who end up dumping refuse in drainage channel and canals, causing flooding any time it rains.“You have come to live in Lagos and we have open our hands to accommodate you and you can only assist us by ensuring that you obey our laws regardless of your status or class, our laws are no respecter of persons,” she said.

While inspecting some drainage facilities within the local government, the Deputy Governor said the Fashola administration is worried about the persistent flooding in the state during the rainy season, noting that the major cause of flooding is the persistent dumping of refuse in the drainage, which in turn obstructs the free flow of water that flows to the highways.

Adefulire who observed the non compliance of markets in the state on environmental sanitation, said that henceforth periodic meetings with market men and women in the state would be held to educate and enlighten them on the dangers of improper disposal of waste, noting that the government will not relent in its enlightenment campaign until a cleaner environment and a clear drainage system is achieved.

At the Federal Housing Esate, Ipaja known as Gowon Estate, the Deputy Governor assured residents of the estate that the state government through the Ministry of The Environment will commence the expansion of the drainage within the state to ensure that it is able to collect the flow of storm water from the estate into the Egbeda River.

She admonished the residents of the estate to support the efforts of the government by ensuring that they patronise the registered PSP refuse collectors which the government has put in place for them to properly dispose their waste.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Local Government, Hon. Alhaji Rasheed Abiodun Mafe had briefed the Deputy Governor on the steps taken by his administration to alleviate the poor state of the drainage system and requested the collaboration of the state government, noting that more needs to be done.