Dare Babalola
The Lagos State Government has announced that commercial vehicles under the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) will not operate during designated hours of the reintroduced Saturday environmental sanitation exercise.
Olatunbosun Cole, Corps Marshal of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), disclosed this on Friday, explaining that the decision followed a stakeholders’ meeting with the transport union as part of efforts to ensure compliance.
According to him, the restriction will run from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., during which NURTW members will not deploy vehicles from parks.
“What we mean by ‘controlled movement’ is that we had a stakeholders’ meeting with the National Union of Road Transport Workers,” Cole said. “They said they will not allow their vehicles to move between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. That is, they will not allow any of their commercial vehicles to leave the park until after 8:30 a.m.”
He clarified, however, that the arrangement does not extend to private vehicle owners, noting that the government opted for a limited restriction window to balance compliance with convenience.
“That’s all the more reason it’s being limited to two hours. People with private vehicles can go out. But to achieve at least a reasonable level of compliance, at the meeting with NURTW, it was agreed that between 6:30 and 8:30, their vehicles will not be loaded,” he explained. “Once people don’t see vehicles on the road, definitely, they will be forced to stay at home and do the clean-up exercise.”
Cole also referenced the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Law (Cap. L27), which makes participation compulsory and outlines penalties for violations.
He noted that while residents will not be punished merely for movement during the sanitation period, those who fail to maintain clean surroundings risk prosecution.
“People on essential duties, nurses, doctors who have vehicles, are free to go out, once they are mobile, but there might not be many vehicles on the roads to convey people to their various destinations,” he said.
“Let me just cite an instance. Let’s say you’re staying at a place called number four. On the day of the environmental sanitation, you refused to clear your gutters and the surroundings. Is that not an offence? Instead of you clearing your surroundings, some people will come out to play football on the roads, you didn’t pack your gutters or empty your garbage. It’s an offence. We’ll arraign them before a court to determine their punishment.”
He stressed the importance of personal responsibility in maintaining a clean environment, questioning why residents should be compelled to clean their surroundings.
“It’s only in Nigeria that you must tell somebody to clean their surroundings. Why should you be told before you clean your surroundings? That’s where we live with our children. On that day, the Lagos State Waste Management Agency vehicles will be moving around to pack dirt. Everybody will also go around that day, including the first lady, the head of service. From time to time, there will now be some kind of adjustments until we get it right.”
