Federal Government Frowns At Non Compliance With Environmental Regulations In Project Execution

By Ayodele Oni

The Minister for Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, has condemned non compliance by Nigerians with environmental regulations in carrying out projects.

The Minister noted with displeasure that neglect of  assessment reports were responsible for environmental degradation, pollution and some of the severe natural disasters like flooding, erosion, landslides, and others experienced in the country.

He was speaking in Ado Ekiti during a three-day panel review meeting of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, (ESIA) reports on Ekiti Cargo Airport, Ado-Akure dualised road and Ekiti State Knowledge Zone projects.

He commended the efforts of Ekiti State Government at mitigating the impact of project activities on the environment and social-economic lives of the people of the State.

The panel, which comprises of representatives from the Federal Ministry of Environment, Ekiti State Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, benefitting local government chairmen, environmentalists, relevant regulatory bodies, ecology, geography and socio-economic experts, paid a working visit to the project sites.

The Minister, represented by a Deputy Director in the Environmental Assisted Department of the Ministry, Dr Musa Gashua, lauded the State Government for complying with National Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) act of Nigeria and other extant environmental laws and regulations in the executions of developmental projects.

According to him, this is one of the steps in addressing probable future and immediate environmental challenges caused by project activities.

He explained that the provisions of EIA Act CAP E12 LFN 2004, mandated proponents of major developmental activities in the country to carry out environmental and social impact assessment of all proposed projects.

Commenting on the ESIA reports on the three projects, Dr Abdullahi stressed the needs for other State Governments to embrace environmental and social impact assessment of projects to expose the environmental problems, social challenges and other negative impacts that come with project activities.

He revealed that the panel review meetings between the three tiers of government and other critical stakeholders would enhance public participation and contributions in ensuring that the projects were executed at the highest level of environmental and social sustainability.

“The projects are welcome development, it would open up a lot of businesses but at the same time needs to be planned very well so that the environmental components are factored in to ensure that these projects when completed would not jeopardize the provisions of EIA Act CAP E12 LFN 2004 and other extant laws of the country.

“This EIA report has been mandated to go through the scrutiny of experts and regulators to make sure that the EIA comply with global best practices.

“We have done the assessment, we have been to the project sites, we have seen the presentation; the environmental and technical aspects, we also had question and answer sessions, what is left now is that we would write our recommendation and take it to the decision makers that is the honourable minister who had the power to approve.

“I am satisfied with the reports, they have met the minimum requirement, they are good to go and it is also a way of encouraging others because government doesn’t want to scrutinize their projects or subject to EIA process but now a lot of them are coming and we are impressed and we also encourage state governments to subject their proposed project to EIA scrutiny.

“Man and project activities have rendered the environment very fragile and polluted, you see what is happening the climate change, look at flooding, look at erosion, these are all defect that come with quest for industrialization. He added.

Dr. Akinyemi Akinyugha, an adviser to the State Government on environment matters, mentioned that the health, safety and wellbeing of the people of Ekiti is paramount to the government; hence the prioritisation of the conduct of the assessment for the projects.

He emphasized the State Government’s commitment to the implementation of recommendations for environmental management during and after execution of the projects.

“The State Government is very intentional in executing its development plan in the most environmentally-friendly approach possible.

“Not only are these projects designed to promote the economic development of the state, but also to promote sustainable social inclusion by opening up new frontiers of growth for the state.

“The State is taking full advantage of its strategic location as a gateway to the North from the South and its proximity to Lagos in developing its potential in agro-business and knowledge economy.”

“In accordance with ESIA reports, the commendation from the Federal Government has again bring to light the demonstration the Ekiti State Government to implement projects that will benefit the people of the State without distorting or causing environmental imbalance.”

Some of the environmental issues debated during the review meeting included exploitation of lands, forest degradation, extinction of endangered species, habitat fragmentation, relocation plans, liquefaction, biodiversity impacts, waste management, compensation, ground water impacts, social and economic impacts, operational phase impacts, report structures, mitigation measures and other activities.