8th February, 2022
The Lagos State Government on Tuesday announced total ban on the use of amplifiers to call passengers in all motor parks across the state.
The ban is to curb noise pollution prevalence across motor parks in the state.
General Manager, Lagos State Environmental Protection, LASEPA, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe announced the ban at a news conference in Alausa, Ikeja, on Tuesday.
She said no motor park in Lagos from today is allowed to use amplifier to call passengers.
Fasawe said the agency is placing the ban in collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation, stressing that after today any motor park found using amplifiers would be sanctioned.
In her words: “What we want to announce and reiterate that no motor park in Lagos from today, is allowed to use amplifiers to call passengers for music or to propagate beliefs. It is a violation of the environmental protection laws of the state.”
Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Oluwatoyin Fayinka re-echoed the ban, saying that any motor park that violated the order not to use amplifiers to call passengers would be shut.
He added that the person with the amplifier would be sanctioned and prosecuted.
“Before today, noise pollution in our parks had reduced drastically. No motor park should use any form of object that could generate noise; it is not allowed in motor parks.
“I challenge churches, mosques and others that do parties to reduce noise pollution. By this declaration, I am empowering the park monitoring committee go to parks in Lagos and stop them from using amplifiers,” Fayinka said.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Dr. Tajudeen Gaji, lamented that over time, noise pollution has become very prevalent in the environment, causing stress with severe health implications, with long term exposure causing hearing loss that is detrimental to human health.
“Noise pollution is the major leading public complaints received at LASEPA, ranging from the transport sector, religious, commercial and entertainment industry, domestic animals, and power generators amongst others. Adults are believed to be the ones thought to show great concerns from problems associated with noise pollution, but children are quite vulnerable as well, more so as there are no known visible symptoms at early age.
“Noise pollution is the most prevalent of the complaints received annually, accounting for 75% of total complaints. These are mostly anthropogenic, and not limited to Transport, Religious, Commercial, Industrial, Entertainment, and Power Generating amongst others,” Gaji said.
He disclose that the “Noiseless Lagos’’ 2021 Campaign held with transporters at the Biode Motor Park, Ojota, Lagos where hearing experts were invited to carry out free hearing tests for users of the Park, revealed a great percentage of hearing impairment among people at the park.
“This calls for great concern, and urgent intervention of the State government, and one of such is the introduction of the ban on the use of speakers in garages and motor parks in the state.
“Experts have statistically proven that exposure to excessive noise pollution is the second most common reason for hearing loss and tinnitus (noise in the head), where noise could be heard anywhere in the head or in one or both ears,” Gaji added.