Traders displaying wares on pedestrian walkways and flower beds on roads in Ogun State may be in for a tough time as government has declared that such defiant traders stand the risk of having their wares confiscated, apart from paying fines, if caught by the environmental task force team.
The Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Bolaji Oyeleye, who made this known during an enforcement tour to major markets in the State, said government would no longer tolerate the act of indiscriminate display of wares on the pedestrian walkways and flower beds as this could pose danger to their lives and those of other road users.
The Commissioner, represented by the Head of team A, Sanitation Task Force, Alhaji Owolabi Oduntan, said government was more perturbed by the fact that such traders ignorantly expose themselves to danger as trading at unapproved places put them in risk of accidents and other road mishaps.
Oyeleye said ‘’anybody caught disregarding this warning will be made a scapegoat to serve as deterrent to others. Government has provided shops and stalls for traders in the State, we are all out now to put a stop to this illegal acts.’’
Some of the traders who pleaded anonymity expressed optimism that the steps taken by the government was a welcome development, as it would clean the city off the traders bent on displaying their wares on the road side and walkways.
It will be recall that the State Government on several occasions had warned traders to stop displaying their wares on the pedestrian walkways, flower beds and other unauthorised places in the state.