Lagos State Transport Union leaders yesterday met government officials, pledging their commitment and support for the re-introduced environmental sanitation exercise with a declaration that no commercial vehicle would load at the various parks and garages between 6.30am and 8.30am on the last Saturdays of every month.

Giving the commitment during a strategic meeting presided over by the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, and his Transportation counterpart, Mr Oluwaseun Osiyemi, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), represented by the State Secretary, Usman Teslim, gave a total commitment to the success of the exercise.

He said all transporters within the union would ensure that the 6.30am to 8.30am belt is devoted to cleaning their homes and surroundings before resuming commercial activities.

Teslim added that NURTW would also form task forces within its various units to enforce the decision.

According to him, part of the laws guiding the operation of NURTW states that in any state or local government where it operates, the union is expected to support the policy pronouncements of the government of the day.

He maintained that the culture of placing waste bins in public buses “is still in existence”, as it assists commuters to dispose of their waste appropriately.

Also echoing the resolve, Chairman of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Lagos, Shamsudeen Ajala, represented by the Deputy State Secretary, KaojueAbolaji, said RTEAN would reach out to all its affiliate unions and branches to ensure that every last Saturday of the month, all their vehicles would only get on to the road to pick passengers after 8.30am.

On why the strategic meeting became imperative, Wahab reiterated that the governor BabajideSanwo-Olu administration “is at the forefront of the quest to achieve a cleaner, flood-free and sustainable environment’; hence, the need for the collaboration of stakeholders.

Wahab said a large number of the population in Lagos rely on public transportation (road and water) to move from one point to another, stressing that the informal sector carries over 70 per cent of operators; hence, the need to seek their buy-in.

“If we all are in agreement with government that we want the state to be cleaner and want this initiative to be successful, then we must all cooperate to ensure its success” he said.

The commissioner mentioned that the sanitation initiative had already been in place every Thursday between 7.00am and 10am in the markets across Lagos where traders participate to clean their markets, saying “that this should be replicated in our homes.”

He charged the leadership of the unions to communicate its resolution to their counterparts in neighbouring states for compliance and cooperation towards the exercise.

Osiyemi sought the support of the transporters in the informal sector, saying the formal sector operators should ensure the success of the monthly sanitation exercise by participating.