The Lagos State Government on Friday declared that it would, from his week, begin physical planning enforcement on all tank farms illegally operating in the state.
The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako, said this during a meeting in his office in Alausa.
The commissioner expressed displeasure at the unapproved and illegal operations of many tank farms in the state, saying that no such facility should operate without planning permit.
He expressed concern over the indiscriminate operations of tank farms, which had negatively impacted the host communities and rendered residents helpless.
He said, “In most cases, the road capacity is inadequate for the activities of the tank farms whose operations have led to the collapse of road infrastructure, rendered critical social amenities such as school and hospital inaccessible and created urban squalors of the host communities.”
Salako stated that the deliberate neglect of host communities by tank farm operators in the state, despite several government overtures, was regrettable, especially when viewed against the backdrop of the fact that most of the companies creating these problems were not only unapproved but also not paying taxes to the government.
Recall that the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development had met with tank farm operators earlier this year and gave one week ultimatum for them to regularise their operations and obtain necessary approvals.