Following the indiscriminate digging of ground without permission, the Lagos State Government has made known it’s plans to go after electricity distribution companies that engage in indiscriminate digging of the ground for their installations without seeking relevant approvals from required agencies.
Oyekanmi Elegushi, the Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Agency, made this known during a chat with the newsmen at his office in Ikeja on Wednesday.
He mentioned it that the planned clampdown by the state government was as a result of several reports that some of the DisCos indulge in installing their infrastructure across the state without receiving necessary permits.
LASIMRA is an agency that is saddled with the responsibility of regulating and maintaining utility infrastructure, such as telecommunications companies’ fibre cables and other installations across public spaces within the geographical boundary of the state.
The LASIMRA boss said that the government will hold a stakeholders’ engagement where issues affecting major players, especially DisCo’s unauthorised digging, will be discussed.
According to him, “What we are doing now is that we are clamping down seriously on illegal digging, and a stakeholders’ meeting will happen sometime this year. We are a no-nonsense regime where things are done properly and where lawlessness will become a thing of the past. What belongs to the government will be given to it and will not be going into private individual accounts, especially some of these DisCos.
“The Federal Government has implemented a name-and-shame policy. We will start naming and shaming companies that are involved in this sort of attitude. Lawlessness and illegal digging without seeking appropriate permits before starting the project will no longer be condoned. What we want at the end of the day is a conducive environment for all businesses to thrive and then for the government to get what it is due to it.”
