NESREA DG LAUDS ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS, WARNS ERRING FACILITIES

The Director General of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Dr (Mrs.) Ngeri S. Benebo has commended NESREA accredited environmental consultants for their role in aiding the compliance monitoring activities of the Agency.

At the one day workshop for NESREA accredited consultants held on Tuesday, April 9 2013, at the Gracious Hotel, Abuja, the DG/CEO, Dr (Mrs.) Ngeri S. Benebo described the duties of the consultants as vital to the implementation of the mandate of the Agency, as the consultants serve as interface between NESREA and the regulated community.

“Due to the efforts of the consultants, a lot of facilities are waking up to their responsibilities and companies now respond faster to compliance concerns whenever notices were served on them”, she said.

The DG encouraged the consultants to perform even better, urging them to carry on their consultancy services to reflect their qualification, expertise, professional experience and competence which had earned them positions on the list of NESREA accredited consultants.

She said, “Apart from routine compliance monitoring and enforcement activities, it is through Environmental Audit reports prepared by the consultants that the Agency can determine/ evaluate some compliance efforts of the regulated community. When such Environmental Audit reports are faulty with a lot of misinformation, the Agency is placed in a difficult situation to make some informed decisions”.

On the enforcement activities of the Agency, the Director General promised that very stiff sanctions await erring facilities. She noted that “some consultants have complained to us. We cannot allow the degradation of our environment to continue. We must take our destinies into our hands to make sure that things are done properly”.
The workshop for accredited environmental consultants, which is the third in the series, was convoked as a platform for exchange of knowledge, information and experience between NESREA and all her accredited environmental consultants. Focus was on Environmental Audit in the brown and green environment and the expected role of NESREA accredited consultants.