The Lagos State Government on Wednesday appealed to market leaders and artisans to make the protection of the environment a priority as they go about their daily business activities.
The appeal was made by the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tunji Bello, at the flag off of an Environmental Sanitation Advocacy for market leaders and artisans across the the three Senatorial Districts of the state.
Bello stated that the sanitation habits of the majority of the people in the informal sector goes a long way in shaping the total cleanliness outlook of the state and this informed why the campaign has been taken to them.
He said: “We must therefore stop littering our market and motor parks with wastes.
“We must segregate our wastes in our respective market, bag our wastes and ensure we patronise PSP operators, stop creating illegal dumpsites on road medians, kerbs, open spaces and road setbacks and start policing our environment.
“Of serious concern to the Ministry and the state is the prevalence of packaging waste such as used plastic bottles, pure water nylon and Styrofoam carelessly disposed, which eventually ends up blocking free flow of water and resulting into flooding.”
Bello urged Lagosians to embrace the waste to wealth initiative of the state, where pet bottles and styrofoam can be sorted in exchange for stipend, adding that government was working on a commercially viable option for both.
Assuring the artisans and market leaders who were well represented of government’s concern for their wellbeing and wellness, the Commissioner stressed that it was in the interest of all to respect environmental laws of the state as regards waste disposal.
Bello said the Lagos State Government was committed to achieving a well-organised market, mechanic workshop as well as motor parks, where sellers and goods or services were properly displayed, calling for cooperation from the associations.
The Commissioner said over the years, most markets and motor parks across the metropolis were in a sorry state because of the unsanitary attitude of the market occupiers.
In his lecture, the Guest Lecturer, Kolawole Ajanaku, charged market leaders with the responsibility of entrenching cleanliness in their respective market places and ensuring the presence of representatives of the Lagos Waste Management Authority so as to monitor carting away of refuse daily from designated points in their market and motor parks.
Ajanaku called on everyone to desist from indiscriminate dumping of refuse and also be vigilant and report anyone working against the public interest to Government officials within their neighbourhood.
In her response, the Iyaloja General, Folasade Tinubu-Ojo, represented by the Iyaloja, Tejuosho Market, Alhaja Noimot Majek-Fajemiluyi, said she will ensure that market sanitation becomes a daily task that all market leaders will adopt.
Tinubu-Ojo assured that the association was ready to cooperate with the State government to adopt all methods proposed by the government to ensure cleanliness in all markets and the environ.