Lagos State government has announced its plan to go after owners of illegal tank farms operating in the state.
This position was disclosed by the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako.
Salako stated this during a stakeholders’ meeting held in Lagos on Friday, November 20.
The commissioner expressed displeasure at the unapproved and illegal operations of many tank farms in the state, saying that no such facility should operate without a planning permit.
He said, “The indiscriminate operations of Tank Farms has negatively impacted the host communities and rendered residents helpless.
“In most cases, the road capacity is inadequate for the activities of the Tank Farms, whose operations have led to the collapse of road infrastructure, rendered critical social amenities such as schools and hospitals inaccessible and created urban squalor of the host communities.”
Further, Salako said that the deliberate neglect of host communities by tank farms operating in the state despite unhonoured government overtures, was regrettable, especially when viewed against the backdrop that most of the outfits creating these problems were not only unapproved but also not paying taxes to the state.
“There is no going back on the plan to start enforcing the extant Physical Planning laws on all erring Tank Farms as from next week, since the ultimatum given had lapsed,” he added.
