Lagos State governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, has approved for commencement, the Clean-up of the inner streets of Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Lekki.
According to a press statement signed by the Chairman and Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr Tunji Bello, on Monday, Ambode had given the affected residents living in the illegal structures 14 days grace to remove such infractions.
Ambode gave the go-ahead after a briefing from the committee on the completion of the first stage of the exercise which involved the major streets.
Bello said the committee was now set to deploy its task force in all the inner streets of Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Lekki after the expiration of the grace period, recalling that Ambode had in late December last year, directed that the clean-up be suspended because of the festive period.
Bello explained that since the completion of the first stage of the clean-up last year, the committee had also continued with its advocacy programme, aimed at sensitising the residents to ensuring a retention of the original master plan of the areas.
He added that a special committee had also been engaging stakeholders like Victoria Island Ikoyi Residents Association (VIIRA) on how the clean-up exercise could record gains in terms of voluntary compliance by residents.
“We will bring the full effect of the law to bear on whoever contravenes our State Environmental Sanitation laws,” he stated.
“For all the mechanics and roadside automobile engineers who have been dislodged from the major streets but have relocated to the inner streets and have converted all the walkways, playgrounds, you have still not reached your operating destination. The Task Force is coming after you when the second phase commences. The earlier you realize that there is no place for roadside mechanics, street traders, illegal shanties or abandoned properties in those areas, the better for you,” Bello warned the residents.
He said the state government would not hesitate to shut down the Federal Marriage Registry in Ikoyi, whose patrons he said, constitute a nuisance through indiscriminate parking on the road, if a solution was not proffered by the owners.
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