Ladipo Market: Lagos demolishes illegal structures

…We are unhappy, we lose N500 million daily — Trader
…We can’t quantify number of structures to go — Traders President
…Anya tasks traders on compliance with sanitation law

Lagos state government, Monday, commenced demolition of illegal structures erected along the drainage channels at the Ladipo Auto spare parts market, Mushin Local Government.

This came barely 24 hours after the state governor, Babatunde Fashola, visited the market to inspect the traders’ compliance with the state sanitation law 2010.

Deputy chairman of the Lagos State Taskforce on environmental and Special offence, Olajide Agboola while addressing the marketers said that the directive to remove the structures erected beside the canal was based on the order of the state governor.

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Sunday, undertook an inspection of Nigeria’s biggest auto spare parts market, in Ladipo, Mushin Local Government Area, closed last Monday over environmental degradation, declaring that the Government would reopen it for business once the traders spearhead a clean-up exercise and formally undertake that never again would they allow trading to take place on the road or the edges of the canal.

The market was shut in the early hours of Monday following repeated warnings and visits by the Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello and the Chairman of the Taskforce on Environmental and Special Offences, CSP Bayo Sulaiman, which were not heeded.

However, the Governor’s visit on Sunday to assess the situation of the Market followed pleas by the traders and the leadership of the Igbo Council in Lagos State led by Professor Anya O. Anya, who visited the State House, Ikeja last Monday to present the new Council members to the Governor.

Though no trading was going on when the Governor visited, evidence of the environmental degradation which led to the closure could be found on the damaged roads in the area, disused piles of spare parts and the shanties used for trading on the sides of the canal.


demolished structures

Speaking to newsmen after the inspection during which he also addressed leaders of the traders, Governor Fashola, who described the state of the Market and its environs as “massive degradation of a section of Lagos”, however, said the good thing in the visit was that the traders had seen the lack of caution in their deed and were ready to make amends.

“It is a massive degradation of a section of Lagos and this is not acceptable. People should not carry on like this. But what is, perhaps, worthy of note is that those who are involved have seen the error of what they have done here and are ready to work with us to clean-up and I have said here that they must take the lead”, the Governor said.

Speaking particularly about the Canal in the market blocked by refuse from the traders, Governor Fashola said, “The Canal there poses a lot of danger and we are expecting heavy rains. I don’t want to come back here to pick any dead body. We built the canal and we must make it work by not trading on it and not dumping refuse in it”.

“People told me that they picked engine parts, spare-parts and other things from the canal. It must stop”, the Governor said adding that there is now an agreement between the traders and the Government to work together to clean up the place and continue with the business there.



Read more: http://kaaf.com/2013/03/Ladipo-Market-Lagos-demolishes-illegal-structures-302263