Lagos State government yesterday sealed off the popular 1004 Estate in Victoria Island, over environmental pollution that could constitute
health hazards to the public.
The clampdown carried out by men of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) saw to the closure of the water treatment facility that supplies portable water to the entire estate.
It was gathered that the enforcement team of LASEPA responded to an emergency call, following the free discharge of poisonous substances from the water treatment plant, into a nearby school premises. Confirming the seal off order, the general manager of LASEPA, Adebola Shabi, said the closure was necessary to forestall a repeat of the October 2013 and April 2014 incidents in Ogba Secondary School where school students inhaled poisonous substances and passed out. He added that the back wash, which is used in washing the water treatment facility, was flowing wrongly into the playing ground of Crescent Schools and Creche, which is very dangerous to the community. “The discharge, you would notice, is reddish in colour because of its iron content. By the time it dries up and reacts with atmospheric oxygen, it becomes ferric oxide. In dry season, it goes into the atmosphere and when inhaled by the children, it will affect that their respiratory system. That is why we have gone there to seal it,” he said. Shabi added that the residents and their Facility Manger had been invited in the past but have not followed the directive of the agency, especially on the need to redirect the discharge channel into the waste-water treatment plant. Also speaking on the issue, the head, Pollution Control, LASEPA, Bisi Shonibare, said that estate must de-silt the drains immediately; relocate the estate gate house that is currently sited on the drainage channel and clean up the Crescent Schools before the pupils resume from their long holiday.
It was gathered that the enforcement team of LASEPA responded to an emergency call, following the free discharge of poisonous substances from the water treatment plant, into a nearby school premises. Confirming the seal off order, the general manager of LASEPA, Adebola Shabi, said the closure was necessary to forestall a repeat of the October 2013 and April 2014 incidents in Ogba Secondary School where school students inhaled poisonous substances and passed out. He added that the back wash, which is used in washing the water treatment facility, was flowing wrongly into the playing ground of Crescent Schools and Creche, which is very dangerous to the community. “The discharge, you would notice, is reddish in colour because of its iron content. By the time it dries up and reacts with atmospheric oxygen, it becomes ferric oxide. In dry season, it goes into the atmosphere and when inhaled by the children, it will affect that their respiratory system. That is why we have gone there to seal it,” he said. Shabi added that the residents and their Facility Manger had been invited in the past but have not followed the directive of the agency, especially on the need to redirect the discharge channel into the waste-water treatment plant. Also speaking on the issue, the head, Pollution Control, LASEPA, Bisi Shonibare, said that estate must de-silt the drains immediately; relocate the estate gate house that is currently sited on the drainage channel and clean up the Crescent Schools before the pupils resume from their long holiday.
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