The Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources has ordered the immediate suspension of all reclamation projects across the state.
PUNCH Online reports that reclamation projects are engineered efforts to create new usable land from water-covered areas by filling them with sand, earth, rock, or other material for building construction.
Lagos Commissioner for Environment, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, in a statement personally signed on Thursday, justified the suspension on the basis that many works on wetlands, floodplains, and lagoons are proceeding without the required Environmental Impact Assessment approvals and drainage clearances.
He noted reclamation activities in high-profile areas, including Parkview, Banana Island, Osborne in Ikoyi, Victoria Island Extension, Lekki, Ajah, Oworonshoki, Lagos Mainland, Ikorodu, Ojo, and Badagry.
Wahab warned that unchecked reclamation poses significant environmental and social risks.
He said, “While reclamation may provide space for housing and infrastructure development, it also poses significant environmental and Social risks, including increased vulnerability to flooding, coastal erosion, disruption of livelihood (especially fishing), loss of wetlands and biodiversity, constriction of the Lagoons and their capacity, impairment of water quality, amongst others.
“With the low-lying topography of the State and its fragile ecosystem, the State Government cannot afford to allow this indiscriminate reclamation of the Lagoons, wetlands, and floodplains to continue unabated.
“Consequently, the Ministry is by this Notice directing all Reclamation Projects across the State with or without EIA approval and Drainage Clearance to be SUSPENDED IMMEDIATELY.”
The directive added, “All approved Reclamation Projects across the State must be submitted for proper Documentation and Monitoring, while all on-going and intending ones must be subjected to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process with issuance of Approval Letter and Drainage Clearance from the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources.”
The ministry warned that failure to comply will prompt the deployment of machinery to decommission illegal sites.
“Failure to comply with this directive within the next 7 DAYS after this publication shall leave the Ministry with no other option than to deploy appropriate machineries to decommission the reclaimed sites, including excavation and removal of fill, reconnecting of already blocked water channels on the lagoon, and the arrest and prosecution of anyone involved and/or found on the site of the illegality.”
PUNCH.
