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LAGOS PHYSICAL PLANNING MINISTRY TEAMS UP WITH NIGERIAN INSTITUTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERS TO MARK WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY

The Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development on Friday partnered the Nigerian Institution of Environmental Engineers, Lagos Chapter in marking the 2021 World Environment Day with theme ” Ecosystem Restoration”

In his address, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako stated that the theme of the World Environment Day reminded us of our relationship with the envelope and the need to urgently moderate our impacts to enhance the sustainability of the system.

” I urge you all to pay particular attention to the built environment where scientific and technological advances have produced growing environmental challenges such as wetlands encroachment, reclamation of waterways and other means of expanding urban frontiers.

He called for the promotion of responsible and sustainable practices, while noting that the Lagos State Government had priotised sustainable physical environment through adequate and effective regulation, investment in the preparation of various Planning Instruments, including Higher and Lower Order Plans, and relentless compliance enforcement.

” Other forward-looking measures to enhance the sustainability of the built environment in Lagos State include the on-going digitisation of the processes of the Ministry and its agencies through the redefinition of Mission and Vision Statements in alliance with the THEMES Agenda and focus of the State Government among others.

While urging Lagosians to team up with the Government in encouraging building in compliance with the law, he reiterated that the State Government would not go back on its resolve to rein in abandoned properties, emphasising that the State Government would not hesitate to invoke the law and demolish abandoned properties where necessary.

Earlier in her welcome address, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Engr. Abiola Kosegbe, who doubled as the Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Environmental Engineers, Lagos Chapter noted the Ministry and the Institution have come together as important stakeholders to project the need for the restoration of the Ecosystem in line with the World Environment Day theme.

” It is a known fact that both the members of the Nigerian Institution of Environmental Engineers and the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development are co-travellers in the management of the environment. While as Engineers our activities impact directly on the environment, the Ministry stands tall as a regulator of the system”, she said.

Activities lined up by the Nigerian Institution of Environmental Engineers, Lagos Chapter for the celebration include tree planting, walk to feel the nature, and Environmental Essay competition for students of tertiary institutions with a prize of a hundred thousand naira, won by Adisa Azeez Abiodun, a Mechanical Engineering Student of the Lagos State Polytechnic.

 

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