BIRNIN KEBBI – The National Environmental Standards and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) said on Monday that the 24 Environmental Regulations developed by the agency had been passed into law and were being enforced nationwide.
The Director-General of the agency, Mrs Ngeri Benebo, made this known at the opening ceremony of 2nd Essential Enforcement course for NESREA officers in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State.
Benebo said that the training was aimed at building on the preliminary training held in 2008.
She said that the regulations covered quarrying and mining, construction, tannery, beverage, textiles and CITES.
Others are wetlands, watersheds, the coastal area protection, soil erosion and flooding, electronic waste, desertification and drought mitigation.
She said that some provisions in these regulations had been developed for states and local government areas for implementation in line with the context of the previous training and enforcement.
Rrepresented by the Deputy Director, Land Resources and Watershed Management, Mr Godwin Atsegwasi, Benebo said the course would improve participants’ knowledge of environment protection and practical enforcement issues.
It would also enhance their knowledge about the application of laws, regulations and guidelines aimed at discouraging violations.
“The training will also to enable participants to understand the standardised procedure for enforcement, what constitutes offences and penalties in the various sectors of the environment as prescribed by law and the different sector regulations,” she said.
The state Coordinator of the agency, Malam Haliru Muhammad, said the training would enhance a cleaner and healthier environment and tasked staff to build individual and collective abilities in compliance monitoring and enforcement activities.
The state Commissioner for Environment, Mr Ishaku Daudu, commended the agency for the training, saying, it would assist in combating the outbreak of diseases due to flooding and other environmental challenges. (NAN)
