SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT: LAGOS GIVES FOUR-DAY RELOCATION ULTIMATUM TO SQUATTERS, ILLEGAL MOTOR PARKS IN OBALENDE

… As State Officials Inspect Obalende, Apongbon, Others for Infractions

The Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in the company of his Transportation counterpart, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, has given a four days relocation notice to all squatters under the Obalende Bridge as well as illegal motor parks operators and buses who have moved to the main road in furtherance of the quest for a sustainable environment

Speaking with newsmen after the inspection tour of Obalende, Apongbon, Ebute-Ero and Ijora for environmental infractions, the Commissioner said all shanties and their dwellers, traders, squatters, cattle rearers and abandoned vehicles presently under Obalende bridge must vacate the area by Thursday afternoon as enforcement would commence in the early hours of Friday morning.

He added that all the commercial vehicle operators who have turned the main roads in Obalende into parking lots should relocate to the various parks provided for them because the government has had enough of the defacement of the aesthetics of Obalende by the operators and it must be restored.

Wahab said there is no going back on the matching order to the Squatters and motorists in Obalende which informed the presence of his counterpart from the transportation sector.

The Commissioner, who inspected the level of work on the clean-up of Apongbon UnderBridge, also visited Ebute Ero and other areas, asking state officials monitoring the areas to ensure full compliance with Mr. Governor’s directive that there should be no form of trading or habitation under the bridge and all adjoining areas.

He said Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK) would move in after the squatters have been removed to commence work on the beautification and landscaping of Obalende Underbridge, Apongbon Underbridge, Ebute Ero Underbridge, stressing that the cleanup exercise would spread to everywhere Bridges exist across the State.

Earlier at the Ilubirin end of Lagos Island, the Commissioner said Ilubirin is strategic because the government is set to regenerate Isale Eko and to do that there is a need to get the outflow of water through Ilubirin path.

He recalled that the Governor was at Isale Eko late last year with the promise of regeneration, adding that the contractor needs to speed up work to ensure that the project is completed before the rain commences.

While speaking, the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi said the Ministry of Transportation's collaboration with the Environment and Water Resources has been beneficial to the State Government in delivering its mandate.

He stated that a park existed at Obalende for the use of motor park operators but has been taken over by shanties and squatters, adding that immediately the clean-up is effected, the park operators will be compelled to take over their parks and move away from the roads.