Lagos not worried about flood-related disasters

The Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, has said the state government is no longer worried about flood-related disasters due to measures already in place.

He said the Babatunde Fashola-led administration was concentrating on statewide cleaning and maintenance of drainage channels to provide free passage to flood water.

Bello spoke on Thursday while announcing the June edition of the state’s monthly environmental sanitation exercise which will come up on Saturday (tomorrow).

The commissioner urged residents of the state to dedicate the time of the exercise ─ 7am to 10am ─ to the cleaning of their environment.

He said, “We must all work together to make Lagos State safe. We urge residents to actively participate in this month’s sanitation exercise. The State Government is concentrating on statewide cleaning and maintenance of drainage channels, because we are now in the peak of the rainy season.

“Global climatic weather conditions have become so unpredictable, which also calls for active participation of all and sundry in our collective effort to reduce to the barest minimum the incidence of flooding in the state.

“Residents should equally dispose their waste rightly, as men of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority and other authorised operators have been fully mobilised to cart away wastes generated during the exercise.”

Bello advised Lagosians to desist from dumping waste into canals, saying such would impede the flow of storm water and lead to flooding.

The commissioner also warned residents against patronising cart pushers, adding that the scope of the waste management operators had been expanded to accommodate more residents of the state.

“To ensure full participation as well as total compliance to the restriction order, private and commercial vehicle drivers and road transport unions have been advised to comply with the restriction of vehicular movement order between 7am and 10am as any vehicle caught violating this order would be dealt with,” he added.