Lagos govt: We have NOT cancelled sanitation

The Lagos state government says the monthly environmental sanitation is still in force, even though it understands the possibility of someday reversing the restriction on movement during the exercise.

At the monthly media chat of his ministry, Babatunde Adejare, commissioner for the environment, had said it was not productive to shut the city for three hours in reference to the restriction of movement between 7am and 10am every last Saturday of the month.

But in a statement issued by Steve Ayorinde, commissioner for information and strategy, the government said the policy on monthly sanitation had not been reviewed.

“Dr. Adejare was quoted out of context when he indicated that the restriction of movement may be dispensed with… he did not in any way suggest that the monthly sanitation had been outlawed,” Ayorinde said in a statement.

“While Dr. Adejare did meet with journalists today and indicated that the restriction of movement every last Saturday of the month would ultimately be dispensed with, he did not say the monthly sanitation exercise would no longer hold in Lagos.

“The last two sanitation exercises could not hold due to the JAMB examination in February and the Easter celebration in March. Nevertheless, the Lagos state government had always encouraged residents to clean their environment and observe hygienic behaviours, without necessarily having to shut the state down.

“It is the wish of Lagos state government to ensure that every part of the state is clean with wastes properly disposed and this will always involve a concerted effort on the part of the government and citizens alike.

“However, while it may become necessary in the near future to observe this clean-up exercise regularly without having to restrict vehicular movement, we wish to clarify that the monthly environmental exercise is still in force in Lagos State for now.”