The Lagos State Government through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has issued a ‘stop-work’ order to 11 illegal dredging sites in the Awoyaya area of the state and its environs as it embarks on a monitoring exercise.
According to a statement issued by the ministry, the Director of Mineral Resources and Solid Minerals, Mr Cardoso Emillo, said the monitoring visit to the Awoyaya area and the suburbs on Friday was as a result of several petitions received by the ministry regarding the illegal dredging activities that were causing environmental nuisances and degradation in the area.
Emillo, who led the enforcement team following the directive of the commissioner, Mr Olalere Odusote, stated that the ‘stop-work’ order became necessary to curb the illegal activities of the dredgers and protect the environment from further pollution and degradation.
He said, “We are collating all necessary data as I speak, to, first of all, know the amount of dredging companies we have. After that, we can now separate the illegal ones from the legal companies. In fact, some of the operators we are talking of don’t even have licences from the Federal Government.
“Landlords are complaining that tenants are beginning to leave their flats for other places because of the situation of the environment.”
Following the stop-work order, Cardoso advised interested persons willing to continue dredging activities to follow the due processes involved by obtaining necessary permits from the Federal Government through the National Inland Water Authority and ensure that their dredging activities were carried out according to stipulated laws without constituting any threat to the environment.
The Director stated, “We have not come here to harass anyone. For now, we have realised the need to convey a stakeholders’ meeting where we will further engage the operators on the appropriate way to carry out their businesses. But for now, all dredging activities will stop until the needful is done.”
He said it was the responsibility of the government to protect its people and that’s why the present administration was doing everything within its jurisdiction to ensure that dredging activities were done lawfully.
