General News
Nasarawa Assembly directs environment ministry to submit bank statements for scrutiny …tasks ministry on effective activities coordination
By David Okpashi
Worried by the inability of the Commissioner of Environment to submit bank statement of the ministry a activities for scrutiny, Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Monday tasked the state ministry of environment to effectively coordinate the activities of mining sites in the state to avoid any form of banditry being experienced in other states of the federation as well as tackle illegal mining.
The House also directed the Commissioner of the Ministry Hon. Kwanta Yakubu to make available bank statements of all the intervention programs within the ministry and reappear for proper budget defence.
Chairman, House Committee on Environment, Hon.
Omadefu, who is the Majority Leader of the House said that the exercise was to assess the ministry’s 2023 budget performance.
The committee chairman said that the issue of environment must not be treated with laxity and challenged the management of the ministry to sit up in the face of climate change.
On the activities of industries and companies in relation to gas emission and pollutant consequencies, the House was concerned with the activities of Olarm Farm in Doma Local Government which has been creating health relating issues to the locals.
The committee urged the ministry of environment to embark on environmental impact assessment even as the committee is to visit Olarm Farm to see things for itself.
The committee while raising concerns with the level of illegal mining in the state,
tasked the ministry to coordinate and compiled all mining sites in the state to avoid a situation where those sites will metamorphosed to act of banditry.
The chairman informed the ministry that the committee will be visiting all mining sites in the state for assessment and wonder why the ministry was hiding monetary facts from the public and directed the commissioner to make available bank statements of all the intervention programs within the ministry and reappear for proper budget defence.
Earlier, the commissioner of the ministry, Kwanta Yakubu had raised an alarm that the business of generating revenue through environmental impact analysis has been taken from the ministry and given to over 30 consultants who have zero expertise on environment compared to the ministry,” he said.
He told the committee that the state government was doing well in the area of environment while urging the committee to continue to support the ministry to succeed.
