Ogun seals off Chinese companies over ‘improper waste disposal’

The Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA) has sealed off two Chinese companies for allegedly operating in dirty environments and improper waste disposal.

The government said the companies also refused to engage accredited waste collectors to properly manage their waste.

The companies are – Yibao Industrial Limited,Bara Village along the Sagamu – Abeokuta Expressway and Ronchang Industrial Park , opposite Julius Berger yard Lagos -Ibadan Expressway, Ewu- Osile.

Special Adviser to the governor and Managing Director of OGWAMA, Abayomi Hunye, led an enforcement team to seal the companies.

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In a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday, Hunye said the OGWAMA took the action after several warnings to the companies fell on deaf ears.

He accused the Chinese companies of littering their premises with wastes which contravene Section 17 of the Ogun State Waste Management Law 2020.

According to him, the two companies were also found guilty of engaging the services of unaccredited waste collectors to evacuate their waste in contravention of section 17 of Ogun State Waste Management Authority Law of 2020.

“The essence of shutting them down is to ensure that they comply with the standard ways of managing wastes in the state.

“We have served them several notices and warnings and they refused to comply. We have even gone to their premises for inspections severally to counsel them to clean their environment and engage government approved waste collectors but they were unyielding.

“They both engage unaccredited waste collectors who have no capacity to manage their waste. That is why their premises are dirty thereby exposing residents of the state to unnecessary odour and possible underground water infections from their untreated waste.

“So we have no alternative than to shut them down in the overriding public interest as their behavior and action smacks of gross disrespect to constituted authority especially from companies owned by foreigners who are hellbent destroying our environment,” he said.

Hunye warned that any company found guilty of similar violations would be sanctioned whether it is owned by Nigerians or foreigners.