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 Daily
Independent Online.
* Monday, July 05, 2004.
Lagos to shut
down dirty firms
By Sunny
Igboanugo,
Metro Editor
Companies
operating in dirty surroundings in Lagos State have been put on notice
that they risk heavy fines. Such premises may even be closed down in
acute cases.
The state government has
launched an onslaught against those whose activities threatened the
environment and constituted danger to both workers and residents.
They might be shut unless they
complied with the proactive rules being put forward by the state to check
their underhand practices as well as get them to improve on their
profiles towards protecting the environment.
One of the measures requires
them to submit Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) from consultants
approved by the state government rather than those chosen by the
companies, a move aimed at getting uniform reports.
Many of the beverage companies
operating in the state were likely to be the main targets of the
initiative because of their generally poor surroundings.
The Lagos State Environmental
Protection Agency (LASEPA) sealed off the premises of a food-processing
giant, Flour Mills of Nigeria, in May over its dirty habit that had been
threatening its neighbours and other operators at Apapa Port where it was
located.
Its operations were restored
after paying a fine of N5 million and signing an undertaken to clean up
huge wastewater from its plant that has been emitting stench, which has
caused a lot of discomfort to people at the port complex.
It was learnt that since the
Flour Mills incident, where the company was believed to have lost close
to N100 million, many others, especially those in manufacturing, have
become more eager to address the environmental aspects of their
operations and have been thronging the Alausa office of the agency to
meet its officials in order to avoid sharing the same fate.
LASEPA General Manager, Debisi
Adesina, who confirmed meeting with several companies over the issue,
said in an interview on Thursday that the erring ones face the risk of
closure, as the government was keen to maintain optimal environmental
practices.
He, however, added that such a
measure would not be spontaneous as the firms would be given enough time
to comply with the required standards.
“We are not just going there to
close them down because our interest is not to close down any company.
Our interest is for them to ensure that they do everything to protect the
environment. These include safety for their staff and the general public.
In fact, our practice is to ensure that we build enough case files on
them through contacts and dialogue. That is what we are doing now. It is
only when that fails that closure, which is the last option, is applied,”
he said.
According to Adebisi, the need
not to be seen as desirous of imposing pain on the companies and their
staff through such closure is responsible for the restraints currently
being applied.
He added: “There are some that
ordinarily we would have closed down, but we have invited them over and
we have gone over the issue with them. Once we see them complying, there
is no need to close them down. We just give them time.”
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