Lagos State government will today begin the enforcement of the ban on the usage and distribution of Styrofoam food containers across the state.
The state’s commissioner for environment and water resources, Tokunbo Wahab, who revealed this during a meeting with market leaders in the state at the weekend held in Lagos, said the enforcement would start in all markets today.
He said enforcement officers from LAGESC/KAI, Environmental Health officials and LAWMA police and the ministry would go after all those having the Styrofoam in their shops, stores or outlets and confiscate them.
Wahab said Styrofoam usage had caused serious damage to the health of the residents and the environment for several years, adding that the government is determined to encourage viable options for Styrofoam containers across the metropolis.
He appealed to market leaders to keep their markets clean, saying a clean environment remains the priority of the government.
The commissioner said the government was disturbed about the unsanitary habits in most of the markets, pointing out that the recent closure of some markets in the state was due to their filthy nature.
He said the government derives no pleasure in closing peoples’ businesses, emphasising that some markets were in a sordid state because of the nonchalant attitude of the executives.
He said there were recent reports that government officials were attacked whenever they visited markets to ascertain the sanitary level and enforce environmental laws in the market.
“I would like to appeal to all our traders to desist from selling on the railway lines and all the roads. Also, we must stop littering our market with wastes. We must segregate our wastes in our respective markets; bag our wastes and patronise PSP operators,” he said.
In her response, the Iyaloja-general, Mrs. Folasade Tinubu-Ojo who was represented by the Iya-oja, Lagos Island, Mrs. Risikat Abeje Lasisi, said they would ensure that market sanitation continues as a daily task that all market leaders will adopt.
She said the association would cooperate with the state government to adopt all methods it proposed to ensure cleanliness in all markets and its environs.
