The Lagos State Government over the weekend warned developers and builders to desist from wetlands encroachment as a private estate being developed on a wetland in Gbagada was sealed.
The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab made this known in an interview with the newsmen.
Wahab spoke after an inspection tour to some enforcement sites and some ongoing project sites, stating that the state is determined to put a stop to the growing challenge of wetland encroachment.
He said wetlands are natural habitations whose value cannot be replaced by money.
He said it is as such essential to do more to preserve nature and protect the wetlands from further encroachment as it is recently being experienced in most parts of the state.
Accompanied by the Special Adviser on the Environment, Olakunle Rotimi-Akodu; Permanent Secretaries, Office of Environmental Services, Gaji Omobolaji and Drainage Services, Engr. Mahamood Adegbite; and Directors in the Ministry, the team visited TREM drainage channel located at Anthony Oke, Oshodi Expressway, observing that the wetland in the areas have been encroached upon and the major portion of the drainage channel blocked with a major private estate being developed on the location.
Wahab directed the immediate sealing up of a proposed private estate site named Maverick Estate, which is still at the inception stage, ordering all construction workers to leave the site immediately.
He ordered that the fences of the proposed Estate on the wetland be pulled down, urging the developer of Maverick Estate to come forward with appropriate land approval, Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and drainage approval amongst other documents.
He emphasised that several of the wetlands across the state such as in places like iju, Ejigbo, Badagry, Ikorodu, Itoikin and many more, which have being encroached upon for estate development without due consideration for environmental guidelines, would be reclaimed by the government as time goes on.
The team team also visited System 1 drainage channel, which is the most critical because it defloods Odo Iya Alaro, Ojota ,Ogudu, Maryland amongst others, to check the extent of the ongoing project awarded by the state two years ago in order to establish the Right of Way and address major flooding issues on the mainland.
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The Commissioner reiterated that global warming is real as exemplified by the flooding incidents being experienced in the North East and West, especially in Borno State in the last few days, urging residents to collaborate with the government to sustain the restoration of the drainage Right of Way and wetlands.
According to him, the world has changed and everyone must put in place various measures to mitigate the adverse effects of global warming and other environmental issues confronting human existence.
Rotimi-Akodu implored all residents of the State to desist from the acts of using refuse to reclaim wetlands or dumping of waste in drainage channels, adding that the joint efforts of the people with the government would curb the incidents of flooding to barest minimum in the state.
He added that the government would continue to scale up its awareness for communities within proximity of wetlands and all residents on the importance of wetlands to humanity.
The team visited System 1 (Sheraton-Ojota link bridge section); Peace Estate, Ifako (System 1 mainstream); and TREM drainage channel (discharges into Anthony Oke Channel). Oshodi Expressway.
