As part of intensified efforts undertaken by the Lagos State Government against the sales, usage and distribution of banned Styrofoam and single-use plastics in the State, the Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), popularly known as KAI, on Thursday destroyed ₦5M worth of Styrofoam packs seized across various locations in the State in the past month.
The exercise was carried out in the Epe area of the State by the Agency in conjunction with Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) officials. Speaking at the venue of the incineration, Corps Marshal of the Agency, Major Olaniyi Olatunbosun Cole (rtd) said ‘‘The State Government has declared zero tolerance on the sales, usage and distribution of Styrofoam packs in the State and there is no going back on this resolve as we are more than committed’’.
Cole enjoined market men and women in the State to desist from selling and buying the banned Styrofoam packs just as he read the riot act to traders who had converted road setbacks, walkways, medians, kerbs and verges to sale points as the Agency would exhaust all lawful enforcement options to reduce hawking and street trading in the metropolis.
He affirmed the Agency’s resolve to reduce the spate of environmental infractions in the State to the barest minimum and seek collaboration with sister agencies in the discharge of its mandate when necessary and appropriate.
In a related development, the Agency, with the support of LASTMA and LAWMA, dislodged illegal occupants on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway by LASU second gate downwards to Okokomaiko. The enforcement operation came on the heels of a petition written by the Lagos State University which necessitated the collaborative efforts of LASTMA to remove every obstructing truck and vehicle parked illegally on the axis.
In the same vein, LAWMA removed all the unwanted debris used by illegal occupants and miscreants that converted the road which leads to the State-owned Citadel of Knowledge to criminal hideouts.