Lekki property owners under tge aegis of VGC Property Owners and Resident Association (VGCPORA) have highlighted strategies for achieving effective flood management in Lagos State.
The Chairman of the association, Olusegun Ladega, explained that to address the menace of flooding which leads to destruction of lives, properties and displacing people across the country, there is need to stop all sand filling activities across the State until Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA) reports are made, also calling on the Lagos State government to enforce the original drainage master plan and the 2010 urban regional plan and development laws.
Ladega in a press briefing organised by concerned citizens of Lekki Penisula, a coalition of estates in the Lekki-Epe axis, also called for an emergency plan to be deployed to address the persistent flooding while also attending to residents affected by flooding.
In his words, “The Lagos State government should appoint a watchdog from both the private and public sectors to monitor and ensure the environmental law are properly carried out all through the year.
He said municipal infrastructure critical to reducing flooding should be prioritised, stressing that existing drainages must be repaired and reconstructed.
“Some of these drainage systems have lost their capacity due to structural damages. Billions of dollars are wasting away on the Island and the LASG has no choice than to deploy mechanical flood defences,” he said.
He added that the inability of the critical ministries- environment, waterfront, land and physical Planning to work together had resulted in infringement and breach of environmental laws by the ministries themselves and poor enforcement of environmental laws, building regulations and town planning guidelines
“A third cause of the flood is the sand filling of lagoons and oceans causing coastal erosion and forcing water back to land and the inability of estate developers to produce Environmental Impact Analysis reports.”
He implored the Lagos state government to resolve these issues as they are not the results of indiscriminate dumping of refuse and climate change.
The coalition further proposed immediate actions needed to abate the flooding, saying that as tax paying citizens of Lagos state, we ask the Lagos state government to stop all sand filling activities across the state until the Environmental Impact Assessments reports are made available.
“Damage to the infrastructure of the estates in the region, buildings, household items and vehicles due to the flooding runs into over a billion naira. The Concerned Citizens of Lekki Peninsula, Ikoyi and Victoria Island hopes that government will act on these issues quickly to save lives and properties in the axis,” he said
