Amid fears and warnings that increased? sand mining in the State could cause landslide and tsunami, Lagos State government has banned surface sand excavation activities in the State with immediate effect.??
The order came on the heels of efforts by the State government to appraise the new criminal laws to make its enforcement effective in the state.??
The State Commissioner for Justice? Mr Ade Ipaye and his counterpart at the Energy and Mineral Resources ministry, Engineer Taofiq Tijani, said at a stakeholders meeting yesterday that the State government’s decision was to protect the residents against violations and possible harm from human activities??
Tijani said that the State government has received series of petitions from concerned citizens on the dangers of uncoordinated surface mining activities in Badagry area of the state.??
He explained that the decision of the governor was premised on the fact that a lot of damage has been done to the area and noted that if not checked, it could worsen the already fragile ecosystem of the State.
He pointed out that activities of the sand miners could also lead to serious and irreparable damage to the entire landscape of the area and possibly cause a tsunami.
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The Commissioner said that the Governor has however approved sand mining activities in shallow creeks in the area, after due diligence of the site and permit granted from the Ministry.
He urged the miners to form themselves into cooperatives to be able to access loans to acquire equipment required for shallow creek water dredging and said that the State Government was poised to streamline the activities of surface sand miners and dredgers in the State in line with international standard.