Lagos Urges Residents to Participate in Saturday Sanitation Exercise

The Lagos State Government has urged residents across the five divisions of the state to stay indoors and participate fully in the monthly environmental sanitation exercise on Saturday.

The Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, gave the charge in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos.

Wahab said the exercise would hold between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., during which residents were expected to clean their surroundings and clear drains in front of their homes before proceeding with other activities.

He said adequate evacuation and compactor trucks had been mobilised across the five divisions of the state.

Wahab added that the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) had been positioned to promptly cart away waste and debris generated during the exercise.

According to him, top government officials, led by the Lagos State Governor’s wife, Dr Claudiana Sanwo-Olu, and supported by the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO), will monitor compliance in parts of the state.

He added that the Head of Service, Mr Olabode Agoro, would lead another team of senior officials to supervise the exercise in a separate local government area.

Wahab said major transport unions in the state had pledged not to deploy vehicles from parks and terminals during the sanitation hours as a show of support for the initiative.

He said the decision to reintroduce the monthly exercise followed persistent calls by residents who wanted a dedicated time for collective environmental cleaning.

The commissioner urged community development associations to mobilise their members to ensure the success of the exercise and revive the culture of communal sanitation.

He said all local governments, local council development areas, and some private organisations were supporting the exercise by providing tools and vehicles for waste evacuation.

Wahab warned that environmental health officers and other enforcement officials from the state and local governments would be deployed across neighbourhoods to monitor compliance.

He said offenders risked receiving abatement notices and prosecution in accordance with the Lagos State Environmental Management Law of 2017 and other relevant regulations.

The monthly environmental sanitation exercise was reintroduced by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on March 14 during a symbolic clean-up exercise along the Mushin-Agege Motor Road corridor. (NAN)