Lagos to sanction landlords with poor septic tanks

Lagos State government has vowed to clamp down on
owners of buildings with poor or substandard septic
tanks, declaring the practice as unhealthy and could lead
to outbreak of epidemic.

The government also warned landlords with multi-room
tenement, who have just one toilet for over 60 residents
to make amend without further delay, saying it would no
longer tolerate such attitude. According to it, such
buildings constitute environmental nuisance.
Commissioner for the Environment, Mr Babatunde
Adejare, gave this warning Monday while speaking at the
stakeholder’s forum for Sensitization and Public
Awareness on Environmental and Health Implications,

which took place at the Agege Mini Stadium.
The Commissioner reiterated that the state government
would no longer permit idea of having any landlord
making available just a toilet for use of about 60 tenants,
saying such idea would no longer be tolerated.
According to him, the management of 2.1billion litres of
waste water generated by over 20 million Lagosians daily,
with the attendant health and environmental implication
is a task that necessitates the ongoing efforts.
“The law prescribes punishment for them. Now, KAI,

environmental officers will be doing part of it. This is part
of what they will be doing. We will come to enforce the
law. A lot of things are abnormal in our environment; we
won’t allow people to dispose refuse in the drainage.
“Imagine a landlord of 25 rooms having a single toilet. He

makes money from the building but cannot get toilet for
the tenants. How much do people build a toilet? Since
government doesn’t collect any money from landlords,
they should use it to build toilets for their tenants.
“The idea of tenants queuing before they can use the
toilet will no longer be tolerated. Just imagine a 25 room
apartment and over 10 people live in each of the rooms.

How can they cope with one toilet?” he queried.
Adejare, who described the theme of the stakeholders
forum entitled: “Waste water Management-Perfecting the
Natural Practice” as apt, added that people should desist
from digging their bore hole and well water close to the
septic tank, saying such practice always  lead to
epidemics.
“Your environment determines the kind of the person you
are. That’s why the development of a country is
measured by how hygienic your environment is,” the
commissioner said.
Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of the
Environment, Mr. Adeshina Onisarutu, who also spoke at
the event, warned against discharging of waste effluents
into the drains by some landlords.

“Many people erroneously think that once their waste is
disposed into the drains that is all. It is not so at all, we
must take care of our environment at all times. Whatever
we disposed wrongly will always come back to us.
“We have turned our environment, drainage channels to
dump sites. Government spends huge resources to treat
water that we drink. The lagoon and the sea are filled
with dirt disposed by residents. This is not good for us
as people,” Onisarutu said.