NIWA Gives Sand Dredgers 14 Days ultimatum to quit Addo, Badore Area

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The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has warned sand dredgers in Addo/Badore area of Lagos State to wind up their operations in the next 14 days, as residents of the area lament untold hardship resulting from dredging activities.

  The General Manager Lagos Zone of NIWA, Mr. Mu’Azu Sambo, made this known on Thursday at a joint meeting with representatives of the Addo Residence Estates Associations, the Tipper Drivers Group and members of the Dredgers Association.

  The ultimatum to vacate the area was issued after the representatives of the residents of the Addo/Badore area presented their grievances at the meeting.

 Narrating the plight of the residents, Chairman of the Addo/Badore Residence Estates Association Forum, Mrs Funke Jegede, told the gathering that almost on a daily basis, residents including school children, got home past midnight due to the traffic congestions on the roads.

 She remarked that the road leading to the area had become impassable as dredgers had destroyed the entire area with their trucks, transporting wet sand, dripping water and sand on the roads and creating craters, which make it difficult for other motorists to move.

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Making an appeal, Mrs Jegede added that “The trucks not only carry wet sand dripping water and sand all around the roads, they make u-turns right over the median, not even bothering to get to the roundabout anymore.

   “We have made several efforts to address the issues, but to no avail. Even the State government has vowed never to come and fix the roads again as long as the dredging activities continue in this residential area. I just appeal that you take your operations outside a residential area so that mothers and their children will not keep facing unwarranted suffering.”

 Following  hours of deliberations, General Manager Lagos Zone of NIWA said that there was no going back on the  resolution  for the dredgers to vacate the area, because the residents had petitioned the office, and NIWA had also observed the reality on ground that dredging cannot continue in the residential area.

 Sambo warned that while the grace period was given for the operators to vacate their equipment and have time to sell the sand they already have now, NIWA would not spare violators of the law, who would venture to continue any dredging activity after the meeting.

 He said: “The residents of Addo/Badore area have written petitions explaining the hardship they face daily as a result of the dredging taking place there. Some of the operators have been most uncivil in their activities and for the purpose of good governance we cannot allow that to continue, for families to keep suffering.

 “I am granting you some palliatives, which include 14 days to enable you close down your operations in the area and move your operational equipment away. You can also use the period to sell what you have on ground. However, there shall be no fresh operations of sand dredging.

“We will deal with this legally and have our officers on ground to ensure compliance. We will do that politely, but not hesitate to come down heavily on violators. We shall impound any tipper seen carrying sand out after the ultimatum and arrest and prosecute the driver.”

 Sambo however told the dredgers to go in search of other suitable non-residential areas where they can begin new operations, promising to ensure that they got permit on their applications.

  He also said that as the dredging operations end in the Addo/Badore area, NIWA would be carrying out a post-dredging impact assessment, to ensure safety of the area.

 Representatives of the dredgers group, in their summation, agreed that their activities had actually impacted negatively on the area, causing continual hardship on the residents.

 Speaking, Mr. Basil Dominic said the roads were obviously impassable even as they continued to make efforts to fix them.

 He added that though they kept fixing portions of the roads at different times, the issue of transporting wet sand and messing up the area was due to what he described as “Negligence on our part.”

 He appealed that it was obvious the dredgers needed capacity to fine-tune their operations to avoid creating a hash after-effect on the community.

 Representing the Tipper Drivers Association, the Zonal Chairman, Mr. Akeem Taoheed,  blamed some of the dredgers for selling wet sand and allowing same to be transported and messing up the area with reckless abandon.

 Taoheed said “We have continued to fight against selling and carriage of wet sand. When we saw how bad the roads became, we started making efforts to maintain the Addo road on a private note. We also kept addressing the issue of driver recklessness.”

 Recalling that length of time the issue had dragged, the General Manager Lagos Zone of NIWA, noted that the Fashola-led Administration did not allow dredging activities in that area, considering the possible dangers  to a residential area.

 Sambo also stated that though sand mining licence was issued by the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, NIWA’s concern covered the area of access to the inland waters.

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