The Lagos State Government on Sunday insisted that the Oko-Oba Abattoir would remain closed until the operators are ready to sit down with the government, abide by the environmental rules and regulations of the State.
Featuring on a popular live TV programme recently, the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab said the abattoir will only be open when the operators are willing to comply with the minimum standards of operating a decent abattoir in the state.
He recalled that the State Government last Thursday shut down the Oko-Oba Abattoir over unsanitary activities, waste mismanagement and unhygienic handling of animal products. He said some people have assets outside the abattoir, and the unsanitary activities/waste mismanagement practised by the operators have destroyed these assets, stressing that this has been the complaint of residents for some time now.
Wahab stated that the Oko-Oba operators are difficult to deal with, recalling that the government took them outside the country some years back to see how animals are slaughtered in a mechanised way. He added that the recent closure was precipitated by the Commissioner for Agriculture, who sent a petition to his Ministry to intervene regarding the environmental degradation.
While noting that the government took a decisive decision to shut down the place due to the condition of the abattoir, the Commissioner disclosed that the operators evacuated the pen purposely built for the animals and turned it into a sleeping/living area.
He said some of the abattoir operators are incorrigible because the next day, the government got informed that they had moved some animals to a nearby abandoned gas station to slaughter, while some slaughtered animals by the road, saying some enforcement team members have been stationed there now to prevent this.
The Commissioner maintained that Lagos is not a Hobbesian State, where Life becomes nasty, brutish, and short as such. Once there is a law, once there are regulations, the least the people can do is to abide by them for their overriding interest. He explained that the Ministry of Agriculture oversees the activities of the abattoir, with LASEPA and LAWMA officials on the ground as well as LASWAMO officials to ensure things are properly done in the abattoir.
He said the government had met with the Concessionaire (Harmony) and the leader of the Abattoir operators (Galadima) and insisted that they cannot continue to discharge animal wastes into the public drain that was built with taxpayers' money, but they should ensure animal wastes are properly treated through the effluent plant.
Wahab averred that the mechanised infrastructure is in place at the Abattoir with just a 10% usage rate and semi-mechanised with 10% usage as well, but the operators chose to go with what is convenient for them, stressing that there are guidelines in abattoir operations in the state which must be followed.
He explained that Lagos is a coastal state and as such it is exposed to some climate change challenges which include sea level rise, excessive rainfall and excessive heat, adding that flash flooding is experienced in some areas because they are low-lying areas which were reclaimed as such, residents should always be patient for the flood to recede after a rainfall.
He said to proffer a solution to the issue of flooding, the Ministry has removed about 1,141 contraventions to restore the drainage system because the environmental law that was signed in 2017 gives the Ministry the power to remove those contraventions. The Law also stipulates consequences for bad behaviour.
Wahab said that because climate change is real, residents are supposed to plant trees, just like LASPARK has planted over 20,000 this year, and they must also embrace the culture of having green areas instead of turning the state into a concrete jungle to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The Commissioner recalled that two years ago, some contraventions were removed from the alignment of the Ikota channel and Odo Iya Alaro in Kosofe to find a lasting solution to the flooding issues in the areas and restore the right of way. He said it has been observed that some developers are planning to build on some wetland areas in Iketu, Agbowa and Magodo, amongst other places, but the government kept pushing back because encroachment on wetlands in the state can never be allowed.
In his words, “I want the residents to be patient with the government. Infrastructures do not get to be in place overnight. In the past two years, the government cleaned up about 666,000 primary channels and 397 secondary collectors to restore the right of way. These are processes that will manifest with time. If you're going to put in place a drainage tripezoidal, you will not finish it in a year".
"But at the end of the day, let us take ownership of our environment. If nature says to us there will be heavy rainfall, that there will be tides, and then there will be excessive heat, let us play our parts too. On our part as a government, we would continue to show more respect for the environment", Wahab submitted
Source: LASG social media page
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