The Lagos State Government on Monday warned residents that anybody caught contravening the laws guiding disposal of waste water in the state would henceforth face wrath of the law.
The Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Samuel Adejare, made this known at a sensitisation forum on waste water management in Agege area of the state.
The forum had “Waste Management: Perfecting the Natural Resources” as its theme.
Adejare noted that the negative attitude of the average Lagosian to waste water management posed a challenge to the implementation of the government’s development plan in the sector.
He said the State Government was determined to build on existing infrastructure to recycle waste water.
According to him, the Lagos State Waste Water Masterplan which covers the years 2015 to 2040 has immediate, medium and long term intervention and strategies to address the challenges in the sector.
In a lecture, Professor Ezekiel Longe of the University of Lagos, pointed out that 80 per cent of residents drew water from the underground water body which had been contaminated through years of waste water mismanagement.
Longe, an expert in water resources, identified consumption of contaminated water as being responsible for the prevalence of diseases such as typhoid as well as dysentery, among Nigerians.
He explained that prolonged consumption of such water might lead to organ damage and cancer.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the forum was attended by representatives of different interest groups in area, including traditional rulers, market women, the organised private sector and landlords associations.
