Dare Babalola
The Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA) has ordered the closure of Ijebu-Imushin Market in Ijebu East Local Government Area over persistent environmental violations and poor waste disposal practices.
The enforcement action followed what authorities described as repeated disregard for sanitation regulations by traders and market leaders, particularly the indiscriminate dumping of refuse within and around the market premises.
Speaking on the development, the Special Adviser to the Governor on OGWAMA, Farook Akintunde, said the decision became necessary after several warnings failed to yield compliance.
“To make their behavior unacceptable, they refuse to patronize the PSP assigned to them for proper evacuation of their waste and prefer to dump their waste indiscriminately in the market.”
Akintunde further explained that OGWAMA had previously intervened by clearing accumulated waste and providing proper disposal infrastructure, but these efforts were ignored by traders.
He continued, “Despite this, OGWAMA decided to clean the market through mechanical evacuation of their heaps of waste and thereafter provided a Roll On Roll Off Bin for them to deposit their waste for easy evacuation but they refuse to make use of the bin and decided to still dump their waste indiscriminately in the market.”
He stressed that the state government would not tolerate actions that could endanger public health and the environment.
“The state government through OGWAMA will not fold its hands and watch few traders to put the health and well-being of a flourishing town into jeopardy by operating in such a filthy environment,” Akintunde stressed.
The government has directed traders to thoroughly clean the market and adopt proper waste disposal practices, including the use of designated bins. Akintunde warned that failure to comply could expose goods to contamination and increase the risk of disease transmission.
He added that the market would remain closed until the traders meet the required sanitation standards, noting that the decision was taken in the overriding public interest.
