Traders in Ogun State have been warned against trading on streets and walkways as such attitude will no longer be tolerated.
Ogun State Government handed down the warning, describing as barbaric, the way some traders took over almost half of the road to display their wares.
Aside from causing unnecessary traffic gridlock in the areas affected, the Ogun State government expressed concern that there could be loss of lives if a vehicle lost coutrole and rammed into the roadside traders.
On Thursday, environmental health officers were sent out by the Governor Dapo Abiodun-led government to ensure compliance with environmental laws across the State.
Leading a team of Environmental Health Officers to Sango and Ifo areas of the State, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Environment, Hon. Farouk Akintunde enlightened the traders on the dangers of street trading, particularly on the median strip.
Akintunde noted that the traders were endangering their lives, saying that they sometimes caused traffic bottleneck, thereby making life intolerable for commuters.
Maintained he: “Ogun is an investment hub and the ambiance of its environment is important in attracting investors to the State.
“Government would no longer fold its hands while traders deface the environment”.
Sanitarian Wemimo Onaeko, Director of Environmental Health, on his part, noted that the enforcement of compliance with environmental laws should not be seen as government’s plan to make life difficult for anyone.
Instead, Onaeko stated, government was after the welfare of the people, pleading with citizens to make sanitation an integral part of their lives so as to prevent any outbreak of diseases.
