About eight years after Lagos State government cancelled the monthly environmental sanitation, the state government has concluded arrangement to reintroduce the monthly exercise, which many watchers believe may be connected to the surge of cholera cases in the state.

It was, however, not clear whether the re-introduced environmental sanitation, which would be symbolically launched on Saturday, July 13, at Lagos Island, according to a state government document sighted by The Guardian, would take the format of the cancelled monthly sanitation.

On November 23, 2016, the state government announced it was doing away with the monthly environmental sanitation following the defeat it suffered from a legal battle over the restriction of movement during the monthly sanitation.

But in announcing the cancellation then, the Lagos State government said the decision to cancel the exercise followed a resolution arrived at its Executive Council meeting, which approved the need for a robust review of the environmental laws and procedures in the state in order to meet the present day challenges and to promote a clean and healthy environment.

The government noted that considering the present economic situation in the country, it was no longer appropriate to restrict movement of people for three hours in a mega-city like Lagos at a time they should be pursuing commercial and entrepreneurial activities.

According to government, in the last two decades, Lagos has grown exponentially into a mega-city with the attendant huge environmental problems associated with managing a population of over twenty million people.

But sadly, the environmental laws, policies and procedures being practiced in the state have not been able to match the phenomenal growth and the dream of a 24-hour economy, hence the need for the reform. It also said that it was not unaware of a Court of Appeal judgment.

It nonetheless said that the thrust of the fresh initiatives, among others, is to promote holistic and modern solutions to the unique environmental challenges confronting the State, while encouraging citizens to voluntarily partner with government to achieve the desired goals. (The Guardian)

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