Tunde Sanni
4 July 2009
Ibadan — Oyo state Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Alhaji Majekodunmi Aborode, has disclosed that government has demolished about 200 illegal petrol stations whose construction contravened the law of the state.
Aborode, who spoke with newsmen in his office against the backdrop of public complaints on the danger the petrol stations posed to human environment stated that the state government has resolved to sanitise the situation.
He disclosed that of the 200 filing stations about 70 per cent of them are located in the state capital, pointing out that it was time the government moved in to ensure that sanity prevails in the siting of fuel stations at illegal spots in the state with a promise that the government would soon clamp down on other fuel stations.
The commissioner however, denied insinuations that the government was under pressure to allow the fuel stations to stay from some powerful political chieftains in the state.
He expressed misgivings at the lethargy of the Board for Urban and Regional development saddled with the responsibility of clamping down on the illegal stations, pointing out that the activities of the board created the impression that the government is being compromised to allow the illegal stations to exist.
Aborode said his ministry has taken over the duty of granting approval for the construction of any fuel station, tasking any prospective fuel station owner to approach his ministry for approval before establishing any fuel station.
The commissioner stated further that owners of the affected petrol stations had been served notice of demolition which will commence soon.
According to him, stakeholders had been informed about the decision of government to enforce environmental laws, adding that the era of constructing petrol stations indiscriminately in the city was over.
"The era of using influence of cronies to violate environmental laws is over. More than 50 petrol stations have been marked down for demolition and their owners have been served notice of demolition.
"It is a new era in Oyo State. Anybody who wants to cite a petrol station in this city should also be ready to pay the new levy of N2.5 million. There is no shifting of ground. Government needs more money to fix the infrastructures in the state. Allocation from Federation account is not enough to improve the lots of the people of Oyo State", he said.
The state branch of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) had struggled unsuccessfully to make the government change the decision to demolish some stations owned by its members but Aborode maintained that there was no going back on the decision.
Aborode disclosed that the government has purchased 15 additional skip eaters in the fight against filth in the state.
To ensure the safety of the skip eaters, he hinted that three engineers from the state are being sponsored on foreign training to Florida to learn about the handling of the new skip eaters. The engineers on their return, he said would train the drivers to handle the machine.
He stated that from an environmental unfriendly state, the government was determined to change the fortune of the state especially the capital city in order to attract more investors.
He recalled a UNDP rating of the state as one of the dirtiest states in the world in 2001, pointing out that with the challenge posed by the report, the government has turned around the fortune of the state and has posted the state as an emerging cleaner state.
The commissioner disclosed that within two years of being in the saddle, the government has purchased 20 roll-off, roll-on trucks as well as 200 locally fabricated skip bins to make the state capital cleaner.
In addition to the purchase, he said that the government has engaged street sweepers while N30million is made available monthly for the purpose of ensuring a cleaner state.
The money, he affirmed is meager, compared to the expenditure of Kwara and Lagos states which are serving as the model for the state in environmentalism.
The government, Aborode stated has created Oyo state Traffic Commission to apprehend drivers of broken down trailers and vehicles who are causing traffic gridlock on the highways in the state.
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