NESREA raises concern over citing of base stations by telecom operators
(Nigeria) The National Environmental Standards Regulations
Enforcement Agency, NESREA, on Thursday expressed concerns over the
non-compliance of the agency’s rules and regulations guiding the citing of base
stations by telecom operators.
A statement by Mr Sule Oyofo, the agency’s Chief Press
Secretary, in Abuja, said that the telecom
operators should ensure that Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure
was followed in the citing of their base stations.
It said that the operators are promoting environmental
health hazards in the country if procedures were not properly followed.
``I am deeply concern about the likely negative
environmental and safety impacts of telecom operations, EIA procedures is not
properly carried out before the citing of base stations,’’ it said.
It explained that one of the objectives of EIA was to ensure
that environmental factors are considered in the decision making process.
The statement added that EIA will ensure that possible
adverse environmental impacts were identified, avoided or minimised.
It said that the agency collaborated with the Nigeria
Communication Commission (NCC) to improve partnership and promote service
delivery.
It added that the essence of the collaboration was for the
experts to share ideas and keep all communication lines open for effective
dissemination of information.
It said that the agency was committed to ensuring that it
achieved environmental protection as well as improving the environmental health
across the country.
According to the statement, it is the responsibility of the
Federal Ministry of Environment to supervise the conduct of EIA procedures,
including the issuance of an Environmental Impact Certificate.
``While it is the statutory responsibility of NESREA to
ensure that the issues identified in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
are complied with. The agency also sanctions companies that did not carry out
EIA before commencement of projects,’’ it said.
It also said that EIS was a tool for decision making and can
be use to describe the positive and negative environmental effects of a
proposed action.
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