Lagos Unveils Dates for Decontamination of Offices, House of Assembly, Others

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Lagos State government is taking no chances and it is doing everything within its powers to curtail the spread of the second wave of COVID-19 in the metropolis.

On Saturday, it announced the extension of the work-from-home directive to workers on its payroll on Grade 14 below till Monday, February 1, 2021, and during this period, it is decontaminating the offices to make them safe for workers when they fully resume.

For more than two weeks, the state government under the leadership of Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu will fumigate offices in the State Secretariat Complex in Alausa, Ikeja and other others across the state.

According to a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, Office of Environmental Services, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Mrs Belinda Odeneye, the exercise had become necessary to reduce the risk of the spread of COVID-19 in the state secretariat.

She emphasised that the government will continue to adopt measures as part of the safety protocols to ensure that the pandemic does not further spread in the state, saying that the fumigation exercise will be a continuous process until the virus was contained.

Mrs Odeneye said the decontamination exercise commenced on Friday, January 15, 2021, with the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Lands Bureau, and Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development is expected to end on Saturday, January 30, 2021.

The PS added that the exercise would commence at 2 pm during weekdays, while it would start at 8 am on weekends and urged all workers to vacate their offices and complex on stipulated days to avoid inhaling chemicals used during the fumigation exercise.

According to the schedule, the Office of the Head of Service/PSO, Ministry of Special Duties & Inter-Governmental Relations, Management Services and Reforms Office, Office of Transformation, Creativity and Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture, Office of Public-Private Partnership, Lagos State Public Procurement Agency and Office of Civic Engagement was fumigated on Saturday, January 16, 2021, while the Office of Secretary to the State Government Cabinet Office, Office of the State Auditor General, Audit Service Commission, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education, Office of Education Quality Assurance are to be fumigated on Sunday, January 17, 2021.

The Office of the Deputy Governor, Ministry of Local Government & Community Affairs, Civil Service Commission, Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture, Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure will be fumigated on Monday, January 18, 2021, in addition to the Ministry of Works & Infrastructure, Ministry of Housing, Civil Service Pensions Office, Ministry of Information & Strategy and Ministry of Health will be decontaminated on Tuesday, January 19, 2021.

The Staff Clinic, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Establishments, Training & Pensions, Central Business Districts Office, Motor Vehicle Administration Agency, Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Cooperatives are slated for fumigation on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, and the Ministry of Wealth Creation & Employment, Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources, Ministry of Home Affairs, Lagos State Liaison  Office Annexe, Lagos State Valuation Office, Lagos State Real Estate Transaction Department and the Lagos State Planning & Environmental Monitoring Authority are scheduled for Thursday, January 21, 2021.

The State Treasury Office, Ministry of Finance, ABAT CENTRE, SPDV, Ministry of Science & Technology and the Ministry of Youth and Social Development are to be fumigated on Friday, January 22, 2021, while Ministry of Women Affairs & Poverty Alleviation, Lagos State Safety Commission, Ministry of Economic Planning & Budget, Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission and the Lagos Television LTV Complex, Agidingbi, are to be decontaminated on January 23, 2021.

Also, the State House of Assembly Complex, LASEPA Building, LASEMA, Fire Service Office – Alausa, Digital Village and RRS & GMT will be fumigated on Sunday, January 24, 2021.

The exercise moves to the Old Secretariat, Ikeja, on Monday, January 25, 2021, with Local Government Service Commission, Local Government Establishment & Pensions Office, Teachers Establishment & Pensions Office, Office of the Auditor General for Local Governments, Office of Youth & Social Development (COURT), Lagos State Coconut Development Authority, Muslim Pilgrims Board, Christian Pilgrims Board, Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Lagos State Electricity Board (LSEB), and Lagos State Urban Renewal Agency (LASURA) on  Monday, January 25, 2021.

It would be the turn of the Lagos House/Office of the Governor, Office of Chief of Staff and Lagos Global on Tuesday, January 26, 2021.

The exercise will continue on January 27, 2021, at Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK), Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA), JJT and Ndubuisi Kanu Parks, Staff Canteen and Adeyemi-Bero Auditorium.

The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and Lagos Water Corporation (LWC), Lagos State Printing Corporation, Office Of Surveyor-General, Arts and Culture, Debt Management Office and Lagos State Residents’ Registration Agency (LASRAA) Office are scheduled for Thursday, January 28, 2021.

The fumigation exercise holds in Oshodi on January 29, 2021, at the offices of LASTMA, LASDRI, Lagos State Task Force, KAI Office, Neighbourhood Watch and LAW Reform Commission and would be rounded up on January 30, 2021, with the Lagos State Material Testing Laboratory, Public Works Bureau, Lagos State Cooperative College (Johnson Agiri) Oko-Oba, Agege and Lagos State Records and Archives Bureau.