DISSATISFIED with unhygienic condition of Kara Cattle Market in Isheri, Ogun State Government has rolled out plans to end various environmental degradations and pollution of the entire area.
First on the list is the engagement of sweepers and a Private Sector Participant (PSP) waste operator to carry out regular cleaning of the entire market and rid it of refuse/waste.
According to the Special Adviser to the Governor of Ogun State Governor on Environment, Mr Ola Oresanya, other plans included the construction of modern and hygienic slaughter’s slab, provision of borehole for water supply, installation of effluent treatment plant, fencing and construction of waste recycling plant and introduction of waste-to-wealth programme in the area.
All these are to come in phases.
Speaking during official inspection to Kara cattle market at the weekend, Oresanya disclosed that the state government has already hit the ground running by engaging 20 sweepers and a PSP operator to clean the market daily.
He warned traders and meat processors/butchers to stop indiscriminate disposal of waste into Ogun River and Kara waterfront to avert pollution in the environment.
The 30-year Kara Market, mainly operated by Hausas and Fulanis from the northern part of the country, is located in Isheri, Ogun state’s suburb, along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Justifying the need to turn around the fortune of the market, the special adviser on environment in Ogun State, described Kara cattle market as one of the biggest cattle markets in the south west, pointing out that whatever happened in this market is important to the state government.
He said “Whatever they do in this market has very serious environmental and health consequences. It also has human development index as job creation centre, where we have a lot of people working here. The business value chain here is huge. We have to work in conjunction with traders and workers here to get the benefit of not having this market damaging the environment. That is why we are here.”
Oresanya stated that government would be working with the market’s leaders to ensure that the latter carry out their responsibility to preserve the environment.
“The impact of whatever happens here can be felt in Lagos state. This market as good as it is, nobody will agree with you that it is environmentally conducive; so that is why we are here. Ogun River flows into Lagos; we have a lot of people using this water downstream and whatever happens upstream has great impacts on the people downstream.”
He assured that government would do everything possible to ensure that the bleaching chemicals being used on the slaughter’s slab is not washed into the river again to prevent any form of river pollution and its associated adverse effects downstream.
He said “There is need to contain the effluent from the processing spot. Our Ministry of Agriculture will be working with the team to ensure that all the waste is well contained and treated.
“So this place is going to have Effluent Treatment Plant, where we treat the waste and not allow it to be deposited into Ogun River.”
According to Oresanya, the presence of water hyacinth in Ogun River during the raining season was an indication of high pollution in the water, noting that sea weeds feed on pathogens in water.
He pointed out that nothing less that 20 to 30 tons solid waste was being generated in Kara cattle market on daily basis, and that most of the waste ended in the river before now.
He assured that the authority would do everything possible to prevent water hyacinth in Ogun River.
The special adviser said: “We are working towards preventing the annual flooding in Kara market area and we will start from cleaning the water every time. We are going to work with the Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency (OGEPA). They are going to take samples of the water for test every time to know the extent of pollution that happens here.
“Also government will help them to look for recycling plant so that some of these wastes can be recycled right here to create jobs.”
He added that the fencing of the market, cleaning and clearing of the road of cows/cattles to make the market beautiful have commenced.
General Secretary of Oluwanisola Market and Cattle Dealer Nigeria Limited, Alhaji Babalola Adewale, lauded the Ogun State government for the intervention.
He assured traders’ cooperation in the efforts to sanitise the market and create sustainable environment.
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