‘Sanction awaits!’ Don’t drill borehole without permit again, Lagos gov’t warns

The Lagos State Government through the State’s Water Regulatory Commission (LSWRC) has cautioned operators in the borehole drilling industry against carrying on with their activities without the requisite license and permit from the State Government, saying erring practitioners will henceforth be sanctioned.

The Executive Secretary of LSWRS, Mrs. Funke Adepoju who read the riot act to the operators in a statement made available to journalists said their activities violates the Environmental Protection and Management Law 2017 penalties and offences.

The warning came on the heels of enforcement carried out by the LSWRC in some construction sites in Ikoyi axis of the state where boreholes were drilled specifically in a block of 36-flats without license and permits, as well as adhering to safety measures.

Adepoju said as a proactive government, the present administration had commenced full enforcement of the licensing and permitting regime for borehole drillers to ensure safe water consumption by residents, protect groundwater and engender environmental sustainability.

She said the enforcement, which is a regulatory provision, was part of the control measures by the State Government to prevent unregulated drilling of borehole in the State.

According to Adepoju, the Lagos State Harmonized Environmental Protection and Management Law (2017) empowers the LSWRC to regulate the production, distribution, abstraction, consumption, supply and use of water, as well as quality of service, and that it would amount to breaching the law for any borehole driller and owner (drill to use) to operate without license and permit from the Commission.

“The LSWRC has the mandate to ensure that operators in the industry comply with standards. If you have to drill, we have the responsibility to ensure that water available is safe for consumption.

“In view of the high impact between hygienic water and health, government will not allow quacks take over the industry. The danger in allowing such in terms of health of residents and environmental sustainability can better be imagined than experienced and so the drillers need license to operate in line with our regulatory provision.

“The geological formation of Lagos is sedimentary and caution is the word. With the importance of groundwater, government is poised to protect it from pollution, contamination of water bodies, unregulated drilling, saline filtration, environmental degradation, among others,” Adepoju said.

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