SIFAX Group has concluded arrangements with the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA), among others, to dispose to dispose the five containers of bad fish at one of its bonded terminals in Lagos.
The move follows the on-site inspection of the terminal’s facilities by the state’s emergency taskforce team last weekend.
The Group Managing Director, Adekunle Oyinloye, said the company was already seeking the necessary government approvals to evacuate and safely dispose the frozen foods before the taskforce visited.
“As a responsible corporate citizen, SIFAX Group will not deliberately endanger the lives of its neighbours, who we have had an excellent relationship with over the last 18 years that our terminal had been in that community,” a statement by the Corporate Affairs Manager, Muyiwa Akande, quoted Oyinloye to say.
“When the company discovered that the content of the containers had gone bad, we immediately contacted the shipping line, consignee and the Nigerian Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for possible collaboration in addressing the situation.
“As of this moment, NAFDAC is still conducting investigation into the matter and, being a bonded terminal, SIFAX Group couldn’t unilaterally dispose the fish without approvals.
“While we were waiting for NAFDAC to round off its investigation, we have to retain the services of a reputable fumigation consultant to constantly disinfect the affected containers to protect our neighbours from air pollution and other health hazards.”
Describing the intervention of the taskforce as welcome, and capable of speeding up the disposal process that has been clogged by bureaucracy, Oyinloye said the company was fully cooperating with the taskforce for the safe evacuation and other post-disposal assessments and checks to guarantee a clean and pollution-free environment.
