The Lagos State Government has sealed the facilities of the Nigerian Bottling Company (producers of Coca-Cola products), FrieslandCampina (makers of Peak Milk), and Guinness Nigeria.
The Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission, LASWARCO carry out the enforcement operation.
Speaking on the development, the Director of Technical Services in the commission, Mr. Olowu Babatunde, revealed that LASWARCO had been engaging with the affected companies for over seven years to ensure compliance with water abstraction regulations, but the efforts had largely been unsuccessful.
“Some, either they do partial compliance, or some don’t comply at all. So, now that we started implementation of our regulation, we now compel them to fulfill all their regulatory demands,” Babatunde said.
The move highlights the commission’s resolve to enforce compliance and address the environmental risks posed by unregulated groundwater abstraction.
The enforcement by LASWARCO was sequel to a recent briefing by Tokunbo Wahab, Commissioner for the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab.
Wahab had emphasized the need to regulate groundwater activities, so as to address environmental risks such as land subsidence and groundwater contamination.
