|
 Daily Independent Online.
* Friday, July 23, 2004.
Minister decries
non-compliance with environmental laws
By Dada Jackson
Senior
property and environment Correspondent, Lagos
Following the
alleged flagrant disregard for guidelines laid-down by the Federal
Ministry of Environment for its accredited consultants, the Minister,
Colonel Bala Mande (rtd), has condemned in strong terms the attitude of
the consultants.
He has therefore advocated for
networking among them in order to move the industry forward.
Mande, who spoke at a national
workshop on capacity-building for the ministry’s accredited consultants, organised by the
University of Lagos (UNILAG) Centre for Environmental Human Resources
Development, said that the ministry had observed that many consultants either
intentionally or unintentionally refused to give feedback on the
environmental activities of industries, as stipulated in the ministry’s
guidelines.
He added that this had led to
a communication gap between the ministry and the industries and
facilities being served by the consultants. The minister further noted
that it was common knowledge that laid- down regulations and guidelines
were not being strictly adhered to, adding that this development resulted in the pathetic state of
the environment.
Mande said that as
consultants, they were required and expected to be experts in their
accredited areas, adding that they were also expected to be
professionally competent and regularly current in environmental matters.
He said that they were equally
expected to know more than the operators, managers and owners of
facilities to give professionally sound advice. To him, if a professional
was not theoretically and technically sound, he cannot proffer solutions
to emerging environmental problems.
The Vice-Chancellor of the
university, Professor Oye Ibidapo-Obe, commended the organisers of the
workshop for their initiative, noting that the seminar was not only
timely, but apt. He said that the university is noted for excellence and
quest for knowledge.
He added that the ministry’s
linkage centre with UNILAG, led by Professor Babatunde Alo, had a mandate
for capacity-building and training for environmental managers in all
sectors of the environment. “The initiative of the university, was
therefore, centred on the dire necessity for training of all persons
appointed as consultants together with a clear articulation and understanding of the
guidelines for practising of environmental consulting in Nigeria,” he
explained.
|
