Nasarawa govt shuts tomato market over sanitation violations

The Nasarawa State Government has shut down the popular Kasuwan Tomato Market in Lafia, the state capital, over what it described as repeated violations of environmental sanitation rules.

The Commissioner for Environment, Solid Minerals and Mining, Dr Margaret Elayo, announced the closure on Saturday while monitoring compliance with the sanitation exercise across Lafia.

She said the market had repeatedly failed to maintain proper hygiene despite several warnings, awareness campaigns and government interventions.

“Traders continued to dispose of waste improperly, failed to clear the drainages and displayed vegetables on bare ground, posing a risk to public health.

“One of my observations is Kasuwan Tomato, where we have put a lot of contractors in the past,” Elayo said.

She explained that Governor Abdullahi Sule had approved several drainage-cleaning and waste-evacuation projects in the area, but traders returned to their old practices after the work was completed.

Elayo announced that the market would remain closed for two days.

She said the government would review the situation when she returned on Monday to determine whether any improvements had been made.

“The government impounded 37 commercial tricycles, popularly known as keke, for operating during the sanitation hours of 8 am to 10 am,” the commissioner added.

“This is just once a month, Saturday, 8 am to 10 am. Nothing is going to kill you to take that two hours, stay in your various homes and clean them,” she said.

Elayo said the government would continue enforcing environmental sanitation laws until residents embraced cleanliness as a shared responsibility.