Lagos seals 5 Illegal Container Terminals on coastline

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Kayode Ojo

The Lagos State government has sealed 5 Container Terminals along the Kirikiri coast for operating illegally without recourse to the  Lagos State Urban and  Regional Planning and Development Law.   

Speaking on the sealing of the terminals during a special  enforcement exercise coordinated by the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development in conjunction with the Lagos State Waterways Authority(LASWA), the state’s Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr.  Idris Salako stated said the container terminal  facilities are becoming too ubiquitous along the state’s coastlines.  

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He said that Container Terminals were operating without the approval of the Lagos State Government while their operations had been observed to have constitued a menace to the watercourse of Lagos State.

He added that no such operations with serious potential impact on the physical environment could be allowed to go on without proper regulations.
According to him, the  sealed facilities had been hiding under the guise of having federal approval to operate but could not present on demand any permit legalising the location of their facilities.

He said that the State Government had said repeatedly without mincing words that it was determined to halt  the spate of illegal physical development in the State and give proper planning its pride of place towards achieving the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda.
On his part, the Managing Director  LASWA, Mr. Oluwadamilola Emmanuel corroborated that all activities on the waterways of the State were being controlled through constant surveillance and monitoring which would not give room to any illegal operations that could be inimical to the progress of the State.
In the same vein, The Physical Planning Commissioner enjoined tank farm Operators in the corridor to refer to ultimatum on legalising their operations which would lapse by the end of  February  2021 and revert to the Ministry with a view to doing the needful. 
He urged the Tank Farm Operators to reciprocate the compassion and understanding displayed by the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, and resume discussions on how to actualise their approvals and their Corporate Social Responsibility to their respective bases of operations.