Breaching of environmental laws is criminal— South-West Zonal Director, NESREA

Mr Adeleke Ajani is the South-West Zonal Director, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA). He speaks with DOYIN ADEOYE on the agency’s efforts in ensuring a clean and healthy environment, among other issues.

How does NESREA as a regulatory body exerts pressure on all and sundry for a clean environment?

We have been monitoring the environment and coming up with regulations since the agency came on board in 2007. And till date, the agency has been able to come up with a total of 13 environmental regulations which cut across all operations and activities that impact on the environment: be it the telecommunication industry, quarry, chemical and pharmaceutical, food and beverage factories, mining sector, issues of vehicular emission, noise control, sanitation and waste control and the likes.

So these are some of the regulations that we have been able to develop among others, tailored towards monitoring the environment and ensuring compliance, both at the industrial and commercial level, as well as the general public and domestic level. We also have regulations tailored towards biodiversity conservation to prevent extinction of endangered species of flora and fauna.

What efforts are being put in place by the agency to address the issue of waste management in the south west?

We have been partnering with the states’ Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that are in charge of environmental management, as well as the states’ waste management authorities. And like I said, we have regulations on sanitation and waste control which we have been trying to sensitise people about.

So we carry out a lot of awareness creation. For instance, every Thursday, every state office or zonal office must carry out awareness creation to specific areas such as markets, motor parks or streets, to educate people on the negative impact of indiscriminate disposal of their wastes, letting them know that dumping wastes in drainages and canals is improper. Most of these wastes are not biodegradable and the after-effect of this is that when rain falls, flood occurs, leading to loss of life and property.

So over the years, we have been carrying out a lot of campaigns on flood and erosion control. This is because apart from the issue of climate change which is causing erratic rainfall, there are also lots of anthropogenic activities that also aggravate flood and erosion in terms of improper disposal of waste and even deforestation and all other related issues.

Do you think achieving zero waste is actually a possibility in the south west?

We have been working with states’ MDAs and waste management authorities in carrying out a lot of awareness campaigns, which we back up with enforcement. However, we still need people to be more environmental conscious.

Everyone needs to see that we are all stakeholders to the environment as it belongs to us all. And whatever we give to it, it gives back to us.

So the issue of sanitation is a major concern to us. In fact, we have set up a pilot project on waste management to ensure compliance. As at 2012, NESREA had two pilot projects in Ekiti and River States, with an objective to showcase zero waste. We have coloured coded bins; the blue, green and brown in specific areas. For instance, the green contains the organic waste, the blue contains recyclables like plastics and nylons, while the brown contains electrical and medical waste or those that require special handling. So we did this to segregate waste from the source and even convert these wastes to wealth, so income could be generated.

After separating, we then recycle. For instance, in Ekiti, we went further to converting the wastes to compost; we also converted the nylons and plastics to pellets. So there were two projects in Ekiti then, one by NESREA and the other by the Federal Ministry of Environment, which is our parent ministry. So the projects were handed over to the Ekiti State government. And the same thing was also done in Rivers State.

We also have that idea in Ibadan as well, where we have the Aleshinloye recycling project. So NESREA is encouraging recycling. In fact we have a programme called the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), where all manufacturers of products are supposed to manage their waste through the EPR programme. Under this EPR programme, we want to register as many recyclers as possible for the companies. So every company must have their EPR plan and submitted to NESREA, which we will then monitor.

Many are of the opinion that the fines for environmental offences should be reviewed…

Our first set of regulations came in 2009, while another batch came in 2011, 2013 and up till 2014. However, although I agree with you that most of the fines that we have in our regulations now are subjected to review based on emerging issues, they are still applicable.

Our regulations are recent, and we have started rolling them out in batches. So our regulations as far as fines and provisions are concerned are subject to review based on emerging issues.

Enforcement seems to be a major issue hindering the effectiveness of our environmental laws. Where lies the problem?

Enforcement is key and that is why our regulations at NESREA are not meant for paperwork, but rather enforcement. For instance with our sanitation and waste control regulation, if you drop a piece of paper or pure water sachet on the floor, the fine is N20,000. If a vehicle is involved, whether commercial or private, the vehicle will be impounded. And because there are agencies saddled with traffic management, we will also carry along the Road Safety Corps, the Police and other agencies in such a way that there will be a synergy, as we will be collaborating with them. So the era of illegal dumping of refuse is gone.

We are also working on the issue of air quality, where we will also collaborate with the Road Safety Corps on vehicular emissions. So as an agency, we believe in carrying the relevant MDAs whether at the federal or state level along, so that it makes the work easier, because we are all stakeholders.

Noise pollution is an underrated environmental issue, especially from religious centres in residential areas. What is the agency doing to address this?

We have a regulation on noise control, which is being enforced at public complaints level and we have continued to sensitise people about it. For example, we have workshops with religious bodies, letting them know the impact of noise. Our officers once attended a particular church with a noise metre and had vigil with them, so that we can know the noise level.

There are noise levels according to areas; there is a permissible level for hospitals and schools, as well as commercial and residential areas, because noise has a lot of effect on human health.

So we have been enforcing noise control particularly on public complainants and we attend to such issues or others that impact on the environment and human life in less than 24 hours.

We then give feedbacks to the complainant. And if the situation warrants taking legal actions, we have a legal department that handles issues of environmental violation in court. Breaching of environmental laws is criminal and is treated as such in the court of law.