The Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA) has closed down two Chinese firms for reportedly operating in unsanitary conditions and improperly disposing of waste.
The companies affected are Yibao Industrial Limited, situated at Bara Village along the Sagamu-Abeokuta Expressway, and Ronchang Industrial Park, located opposite the Julius Berger yard along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The government stated that these companies failed to hire accredited waste collectors for proper waste management, violating Section 17 of the Ogun State Waste Management Authority Law of 2020.
In a statement released on Sunday, Abayomi Hunye, the Special Adviser to the governor and Managing Director of OGWAMA, announced that an enforcement team had sealed the two companies after multiple warnings were ignored.
“The purpose of shutting them down is to ensure compliance with the proper waste management standards in the state,” he explained.
“We have issued several notices and warnings, but they chose not to comply. Our team has visited their premises multiple times to advise them on cleaning their environments and hiring government-approved waste collectors, but they remained unresponsive.”
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 behaviour and action smacks of gross disrespect to constituted authority especially from companies owned by foreigners who are hellbent on destroying our environment,” Hunye said.
He urged Community Development Associations (CDAs) and other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to support OGWAMA’s efforts by serving as whistle-blowers. Additionally, he cautioned other companies involved in similar practices to adhere to the state’s waste management regulations or face potential sanctions.
