N150m Required To De-Contaminate Lagos Lagoon-Official

Not less than 10 million dollars (about Nl50 million) will be required to de-contaminate the Lagos lagoon, an official of the Federal Ministry of Environment said on Thursday.

Mrs Anu Bassey, an Assistant Director in the Pollution Control Department of the ministry, said this while speaking with newsmen in Abuja.

Bassey said that the lagoon had been contaminated by harmful chemicals discharged by industries over the past years.

The chemicals, otherwise known as effluents as well as substances known as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), had serious implication on public health, she said.

According to her, studies have shown that the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) office surroundings in Ijora, Lagos, was also polluted with oil from the transformer.

“We want to see if we can remediate the lagoon and PHCN sites.

“But more studies must be carried out to know the present condition of the lagoon,” she said. She said that the remediation will be a pilot project between Nigeria and a Japanese company, Toshiba, adding that the project would be funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

GEF unites 182 member governments – in partnership with international institutions, NGOs and the private sector – to address global environmental issues.

An independent financial organisation, the GEF provides grants to developing countries and countries with economies in transition for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, to ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants.

Established in 1991, the GEF is today the largest founder of projects to improve the global environment.

The assistant director said that Japan had achieved a lot of success in utilising a specific technology to treat its plants.

According to her, the success recorded by Japan in that regard, spurred Nigeria to try a similar method.

Bassey said that when de-contaminated, the lagoon would also be dredged for easy transportation and access for fishing activities.

She expressed optimism that when completed, the project would boost transportation and the livelihood of the people.