The Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA) has shut down an automobile assembly company known for manufacturing heavy-duty and passenger vehicles over alleged open waste burning in the state.

The company, Carry Heavy Industry Limited (CHIL), located at Moloko–Asipa near Abeokuta, the state capital, was sealed for allegedly violating Section 2b(a) of the OGWAMA law, which prohibits individuals and industries from burning waste materials.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Waste Management, Farouk Akintunde, disclosed yesterday that the agency was compelled to shut down the company after its management allegedly ignored repeated directives to engage government-approved Private Sector Participants (PSPs) for waste disposal and instead continued the open burning of waste.

Akintunde said the company’s actions caused air pollution through toxic emissions, thereby posing health risks to workers and residents in neighbouring communities.

The governor’s aide, who also doubles as the Managing Director of OGWAMA, stressed that the state government would not tolerate practices capable of endangering public health, noting that the wellbeing of residents remains paramount.

He stated that the company would remain closed until it complies with the state’s environmental laws prohibiting waste burning and registers with an approved waste PSP for proper waste disposal, or risk facing stricter legal sanctions.

Meanwhile, the agency also issued a warning to Camelin Industry Limited, located along the Sagamu Interchange on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, over a similar offence.

Akintunde said the company was also found culpable of open waste burning, a practice he described as harmful to workers and the surrounding environment, adding that the management of the firm has been invited by the agency.