Shuts firm over environmental infractions
Ogun State Government has said that N3.5 billion had been earmarked for the ongoing Educash transfer programme of the Governor Dapo Abiodun-led administration.
According to it, about 100,000 indigent pupils in public primary and secondary schools, as well as 50,000 students in tertiary institutions across the country, will benefit at the end of the exercise.
The state government also disclosed that over 40,000 students and pupils in primary and secondary schools had so far benefited from the programme. The state’s Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, who disclosed this shortly after monitoring the cash transfer to parents of indigent students in public primary and secondary schools in the Remo Division of the state, promised that no one would be left out. He, therefore, assured parents who are yet to receive the money to remain calm as it would soon be their turn.
In her remarks, Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Ronke Soyombo, admonished parents not to use the money for their own personal needs but to ensure that they prioritised the future of their children.
IN another development, the state government has shut down the Tera Aqua Environmental Consult Pyrolysis Plant in Sango-Ota over harmful environmental infractions.
This, according to it, was part of efforts aimed at ensuring industries operating in the state adopt global environmental best standards.Special Assistant to the Governor on Environment, Farook Akintunde, who doubles as Chairman of the state Taskforce on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement, during the shutdown of the black-oil, bio-char and steel wire producing firm, warned others not to take government’s friendly postures for granted.
He said the company was found guilty of operating under harmful, inhuman and substandard conditions have impacted negatively on the environment and residents of its immediate host communities.
The firm was also found liable for the continuous release of noxious gases, untreated wastewater and suspended particles into the environment, which has caused serious environmental infractions that have led to a protest by the residents of the Estate.
Akintunde added that it was discovered upon investigation that the company was also operating without necessary environmental approvals, as well as Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which is contrary to state government’s guidelines, thereby committing serious environmental offences.
He, therefore, warned firms in the state that despite the government’s friendly posture towards them, it would not condone any environmental infractions, especially those that will have a direct impact on residents of the state, urging them to obtain necessary documents that will guide them in their operations so that they will not fall into the wrong side of the environmental laws of the state.
Responding to the closure, the Vice Chairman of Riverview Community, one of the four communities in the Estate, Obanla Abel, thanked the state government for coming to their aid as the company’s operation has brought untold hardship to its inhabitants through the incessant release of noxious gases and untreated wastewater to the environment.
He said that the closure would bring peace and tranquillity to the Estate, urging those who have left the area to return, as the state government has done the needful by closing the company until all issues bothering their welfare and well-being are resolved.
