Lagos State Government and Dredgers, under the aegis of the Dredgers Association of Nigeria, have resolved their disagreement, with both parties agreeing to form a partnership to sanitise the dredging sector in the State.
Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Hon. Ekundayo Alebiosu, made this known after a stakeholders’ meeting held at his instance to resolve all grey areas in his office on Friday. It was one of the several meetings called to resolve the disagreement.
According to the Commissioner, the State frowns at the uncontrolled activities of dredgers, particularly along the waterways, a situation that was recently escalated by the January 2024 ruling of the Supreme Court ceding the control of the waterways to the Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA).
His words: “Although the Ministry got some approvals for enforcement, we deemed it fit to offer another opportunity to foster understanding and build a robust relationship with the dredgers as partners in progress and remove the bad eggs in the sector”.
Alebiosu further stressed that it would only be fair to notify the dredgers of the government’s position again on the need to sanitise all dredging sites and ensure activities are carried out in a way that is environmentally sustainable and does not threaten living and livelihood around the waterfronts.
“We have a statutory function to protect the waterfront assets. We cannot sit and wait while things get out of hand as trends are currently showing. We have to be proactive and strategic. You know the illegal operators are also threats to your businesses, so you need to be better organised to bring them to book.
“Our officers are also facing lots of challenges in the course of carrying out our statutory responsibility, and that is why we invited you out of respect for your association. We are going all out against illegal operators who are not registered with the government. It will no longer be business as usual for those who are not complying with the extant Laws”, he added.
According to him, the Ministry will do its job and meet regularly with stakeholders to obtain information and get feedback, saying “It will be good for all of us to be on the same page, and we are open to suggestions, support, advice, and whatever it will take to move the sector forward”.
The Commissioner noted the need to bring everybody into the dragnet, including illegal practitioners, who need to regularise their operations with the government.
President of the Association, Bature Akpomejero, in his response, said his group is not averse to the Ministry’s statutory functions because the group also likes to do things formally so that members would not run foul of the law.
“We are assuring the Commissioner that our association is willing to work with the government. I urged the Ministry to render valuable services to our association, which will eventually translate to more value to the general members. We promise you a good working relationship”, he said.
The Secretary General of the Association, Richard Ntan, also expressed support for a clampdown on illegal practitioners and called on the Ministry not to entertain name-droppers. “Let me praise the efforts of the Commissioner at resolving the disagreement once and for all, for the first time”.
In her remarks, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mrs Lolade Aina appreciated the dredgers for turning up for the meeting, pledging the support of the government in seeing to their challenges.
“Government needs the dredgers and you also need the government. I want to say that this will be the beginning of the great working relationship between us”, she said.
The Head of the Dredging/Monitoring Unit in the Ministry, Mr. James Iranola was full of thanks for the collaborative effort of Government and the Dredgers Association of Nigeria.
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