The National Environmental Standards and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) yesterday sealed off 21 facilities across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, for flouting extant environmental regulations.
The enforcement exercise targeted a range of real estate and construction projects that failed to comply with national environmental laws, including the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act and the National Environmental (Construction Sector) Regulations, 2011.
Among the affected facilities are Ochacho Real Homes Limited, Idu; Cosgrove Shopping Mall Project, Wuse II; Belmont Court, Idu; White Avenue Real Estate, Lugbe; and Cosgrove Estate, Central Business District.
Others include CCECC (Federal Inland Revenue Service project and CBD site); Mo Mouna Construction, Katampe; Practis Project; Istrom Construction; Mab Global Estate, Idu; Constrix, Idu; Anarock Global Services Limited; Quali Trends Nigeria Limited; Boked International Limited; Tim Tali Transport Limited; Matilda Rozi Limited; Efedi Homes, Kukwaba District; T’lon Construction and Facilities Management; Tayyib Homes Limited, Lugbe; and Contrix Cube, Katampe.
Speaking with journalists during the exercise, the director general of NESREA, Professor Innocent Barikor, said the operation was necessitated by the growing environmental degradation caused by the construction and quarrying activities of these companies.
“The negative impact of the construction and quarrying activities within the FCT has led to public outcry by the host communities where these facilities exist. In addition, the environment is exposed to various forms of environmental degradation disasters, such as flooding, erosion, and burrow pits,” Prof. Barikor stated.
The director of environmental quality control, Mr. Elijah Udofia, said the goal is to ensure that construction sites comply with the laws and environmental regulations of the country. He said NESREA wrote three warning letters to each of the companies with enough time for them to comply and obtain regulation permits to ensure a secure facility for users, but remained defiant.
“The contractors know what the law says, they know the issue about EIA Act. It’s not something that started today or yesterday.
But I don’t know, by one reason or the other, they don’t want to comply. So, probably they feel that maybe the regulators are not really, they are not looking at that side. So, that’s why we are all out, to ensure that,” he told journalists.
Professor Bariko said that despite receiving several notices and warnings from the agency, the affected facilities failed to comply with basic environmental safety standards and procedures.
“There were many public complaints against these facilities, and officials of NESREA carried out investigations, after which notices of compliance concerns were issued. However, they failed to adhere to the provisions of the environmental laws, hence the action by the agency,” he added.
Prof. Barikor emphasized that a significant number of the sealed sites commenced operations without conducting mandatory Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), a clear breach of national environmental policy.
NESREA noted that the enforcement action aims to serve as a deterrent to other developers and to protect residents from the harmful effects of unregulated construction activities in the capital city.
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