Abuja, Feb. 4, 2019 (NAN) Alhaji Suleiman Zarma, the Nigerian Minister of Environment, on Monday urged the management and staff of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) to redouble efforts to enforce the nation’s environmental laws.
Zarma gave the advice when he paid a working visit to the Director-General of NESREA, Dr Lawrence Anukam, in his office in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
He underscored the need for the agency to do more in the enforcement of environmental laws because failure to do that would create disaster to citizens and the nation’s environment.
« As enforcers of the law, you should not expect everybody to commend you because there is no enforcer that favours persons who operate in contradiction of the law, » the minister said.
He assured that the ministry of environment would support the agency to achieve its mandate aimed at enforcing the nation’s environmental laws, guidelines, policies, standards and regulations.
Zarma urged the agency to operate in line with the law that established it.
According to him, the agency should address the issues of air and noise pollution as well polythene bags and plastic pollution in its environmental standards and regulations enforcement.
Anukam, who noted that the issue of electronic wastes had been a serious environmental challenge, said that the agency had succeeded in deporting seven ships that were bringing toxic e-wastes into the country.
He said that the feat was possible through the agency’s collaboration with Nigeria Customs Service and other relevant agencies in the nation’s ports.
The director-general said that the agency was implementing Extended Producer Responsibility Programme aimed at holding producers responsible for their manufactured products to ensure that such product did not destroy the environment.
He said that the programme involved many manufacturing companies aimed at addressing carbon emissions, plastic pollution and other environmental challenges.
