N igerian T ribune
20 Thur!day. 15 September. 2011
LASEPAOpens Ikorodu office o.ukW'Uma
OkpillitOC:ha.
l...-p
He said ron tTary to in-
sinuation that the new of-
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he "ge ncy e n trus t" d w illi the respo nsibity of ens uring a S(!fe environ ment in t...'SQS St",!!!, t...' gos State Ellvi ronmental Protection "genC}" (LASE I'A), I"s t week, upened an area offi ce a t O dogun )'a n , Ikorodu. Th is w",s p ar t o f the agency's {'Ho rt at taki ng government to the people in the slate ilnd to ftlrther intensify its o peri"ltiun in •he t...'8OS nletropolis, b)' effectively monitoring in· dustria l pollution, illegil l s., nd mining and other environment",1 nuisance. A fte r co·nmissioning the ne w office, the Gen eral Managrr of LASEPA, Mr. ~\-J ebo l a Shi"l b i sa id the idei"l I,'a" to take enviro n m{"nt regula ti on closer to La ..;os residents. lie aHirmccl that with the o pening o f the office, all e nviro nmcrta l pollution, w ithin " ld a rou nd rko rod u a) is wo ul d be hand led by the area office. Mr . Sh ,lH said necessaT)' equ irn·ent :md mil llpower for a., efficient ope ratiCin had heen p rovided for the new (,f(jce. Th us, he enjoilled .. II resi d en ts ilHlUlld IkOiod u to hence· fo rt h forw ard thei r en viroml\enlal poll ution pel ili\,ns o r complaints to the new offi CE', :lS capaci ty for th tlrough en forcement had been prO\'ic ('(! (or the of-
fire w as o pened because of Niclle mlex (a tex t ile Ind us tr y rece ntl y d osed do w n by the agen cy) to check its compliance. the
area office was to complement the oper.1t ions of its hea dquarte r at Alau S3. Mr. Shabi f\1f lher s lated Ihil t the o rfice w as 10 regulat e all i nd us tries in Iko rodu and no l Nichemtex alone and all o ther fonns o f environ me ntal poil u li on nu isance. He was qu ick to add that the lheche Ri ver had been poll u ted due 10 d isch arge o f eWue nl into water bod ies, thereby killing its waler life . . He said other comp"nit'S that had been visited 10 ascerta in the safety and healt hy p roduction p rilcIices pul in place included Spint(''C, S minlex, Technoi!, F algbe ~ns. River.;, among others.
Chukwuma
Okp~.O<h.,
log'"
T
he uncertai nty and m ixed fee lings th at g reeted the sig ning into law of the L,'gos tenancy law, which has been d ubbed in some lluarters as 'controversial,' has agai n rai sed m o re eyebrows, as major slakeholders in the hOUSing sector, last week, opened up
Chevron, FRSC begin trud; safety campaign Sy l ves ~e r
Idowu,
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he\' ro n Nige ri an Lim 'ted (eN L), in C(llli"boration with the ~lta State Command of the f<."<i elal Ro.,d Sa fety Corp (f RSC). has em barked on truck ~ 'e ty cam paign for petroll?U'll ti"l nker d.rivers i"lt the Pl·troleum Prod· ucts fI.'la rke1ing Company (PPMC), El pan. with the distrib u tior of au to matic "wake-u p" device w hk h a lert a slEepi ng dr h ·er while steering the wheels. TIle d evke code-named "wake-up" when fi}Ced on the ears, ec uld au tomatica ll y beep a nd vib ra te wllt'II.'ver a tl ri ver on steet"• '.., Iltld ~ his head . rill' lIil : o mpany and I lh( il 15l ' di s tributed ·"1·11, . Rl·nlctiveTa pes" to Iht' hud. J,ivers as part of tilt"iI ":ll!ltr ib u tio l! to en" 'U i! ,uxitie1 t free d rh'ing 1·\ II", heav y duty vehicle. I · .. ,,,.d all v during e mber " 1O" l1 hs. lhc I'rcgramm e wa s pr(llllnted b y "A rr ive
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Tenancy lawinimical to housing development
fire.
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-From left. President of t e Ni8 erian Ins titution 01 Estate Survey ors and Valuers (N lESV), Mr Bode Adedij;; Chairman. NIESV. Lagos branch. ML Oluso/a Fatoki; Lagos Attorney-General. AfL Ade lpaye. and ex-NIESV president and chairman of the event, Venerable Ladipo Esho, at the presen tation of a plaq~e to Mr l p aye. at a business lunch eon on til e Lagos Tenancy Law. IIe ld at 'the Airport Hotel, Ik eja, las t week.
Alive ROild S., fety In iliilli ve" il nd s u ppo rted by Stilr De epw.ater Pe troleum Lim ited, a Chevron , Nigerian Limited (CN L) company ilnd ope riltor o ( the Ag bilmi fi e ld wit h its piu tne rs. Acti ng Secto r Commander o f FRSC in the . State, Commilnd er (Mrs) Patricia Emeordi who performed the e}Cc.rcise silid ' th a t the ca mpa ign was I bome ou t of d evastating effect of crushes on stil tioncry \'chides that were either broken..d own or almnd o ned and the need to sensitise truck drivers on the use of the retru renecti ve !apes that could perve rt death res ulting from that. The FRSC boss said the rt'i nforccmellt of the relro-re fl ecti ve tapes was ill cumpliilnre with Ihe Na(jona! Road Tra{fic Regulation (N RTR) 2004, section 56 (P) which exp ressly states that all commercia l vehicles other than taxis shall ha\'e two refl ective red stickers filled to the e:dreme ends at the rear of the vehicle.
e No,
-Experts
it's in stakebolders' best interest -Lagos AG
the devclopment. AI a business luncheon tagged: "·11,e new tenancy law of t...'gtlS Stale 20 11 ," held at Ihe Airpo rt Hotel, Ikeja, last week, various members of the Nigerian Institut ion o f Estate Surveyors Val uers (N IESV), Lagos branch, once again res tated their \'iews abou t the controversial issue. According to the president of the institu tion, ~'Ir Bode Adediji, who had earlier recognise.:1 the courage shown by Governnor lJab.,t undl? Fashola of Logos State in confmnting some of the crises bede\' illing the hou sing sector in the state, d eclared tha i Ihe fo rum would serve as an opportu· ni ty for those who had fears Ihat the piece of lcgisli"lliol1 would serve as an avenue for them to lose their soww of livelihood as a resul t of kiss of po,lronage, or working wi thout being pow. "N IESV, u n d e r my 0 11
leadership, atladles con· sion o f hou sing f(l r 1(11\' s ide rable impo rtance 10 inco m e carnC!rS is ilL,ys· ilny policy, progra mme or m1\lI )' 101Y. "Th is I:'I IY m:'ly fu rther legislatio n affectin g the built environment in gen- worsen the situation of low eral and housing 5('(tor in inCOln e ei"lmers the I:'IIV is particu lar. As a resul t of meant to protect," \"l1 ile th is overarchi ng pro fes· also itdding that ~ ren t con· sion al res p onsibi lity Iro! in this stil te since the which we owe 10 the Ni- ·time of Urigad ier Moboloji gerian people, we had sel Johnson in the 70 '5 and li p a con1millce to look into that Brigad ier Buba Marwa the Tenancy Bill as soon in the 90's. though well inas it was passed by the tended, never :'Id,ie\·ed the State House of Assembly," desired purpose. This is IJeMr Aded iii decla red. ca lise the dema nd for Speak ing o n the , ;!me housing is usually higher issue at tbe event w hich than its s uppl)'." served as a forum to invite Accord ing to 1\ rerort Ih e slate gove rnme nt to mil de a va ilil l::ile to Tri· Ihe institution's forthcom- bune Business, by ing in te rnationa l cOl1f~r Cro mwe ll Real Es ti"l ic cncc where issues relating AGldemy, if the law is al10 national housing short- lowed to lake effect, over age wou ld be criti ca ll), N5 1<1 b illion, covering a v i e~~ed , the chairman o f yearl), loss of over N102 the Lagos b ran ch o f billion, \you ld hi"lve been N IESV, Mr O lusola Fatoki, lOst in jus t" five years. insisted that "the perfor· .. " Fo r a ·sta te where 9 1 mancE' of the Lagos State per cent of the residents government in the p ro\'i- live be low the interna ·
tiona l s tandard povert)' le\'el of $1.25 (193.7<1) per da}', such negati ve industry impact is quite u ncalled fo r, and can onl y make the poor won;c-off," the report stated. Mea nw hile, acco rdi ng to the A tto rney Genera l and Commi ssio ne r for JustiCE' of Lagos State, Mr Ad e Ira ye, the law was designed to takeGl rt' of the interests o f all st,l keholders in hOUSing in the state, includi ng tenan ts, landlords , as well as es tate agen ts and valuers, saying it was a wrong conU'plion that the la w was mean t 10 sa lis fy te nan ts il l the ex· pense of landlords. "The role uf the go\'e rnm en t in co mi n g u p with leg islatio n li ke the Lagos Stil te Tenilllg ' L., w is to strike a ba lanC(' between the competing ;l1ld sometimes conflicting in· teres t of lan dlord s and tenants.
Climate change: 'World faces extinction threat'
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he world fa ces the risk of extinction, if issu es re lating to cli m a te n re no t ad eq ua tely tackled a nd if the wo rds o ( Prince Ch arles of Eng land a re anything to go by." Prince C harles, w h o has taken up the role of new Pre side nt for th e Wo rld Wild Fund for Nature, made this known in a ke y no te s peech las t
week, revea ling tha t the world must look to solve the problems of climate change if it docs not wa nt to risk extinction. It was also ga thered that Prinre Ch arles used the occasion to warn variou s governments across the world that mankind could face extinction if it fai led to ta ckle climate change, and he also charged environmental-
is ts to sta nd up and be roun!ed in a bid toavoid the 'sixth great extinction: ~We are, o f course, w itnessi ng wha t some people call the sixth great extinction evellt - the continued erosion of much of the Ea r th's v it a l biodiversity caused b5' iI w hole host of pressures, from the rising demand for land to the corrosive effects of all ki nds of pol-
l u ti o n , ~ Prince Charles said. Prin ce Cha rles h as taken up the position o f President from I-kr J..:oyoll Highness I'ri ncess Alexand ra, a posishe held fo r 30 yea rs. The WWF hilS confirmed th ,lt I'rince Charles will bl' worki ng on a number pt lIliti,lll'~ each year in il (".I to b(lth lobby and p mn1O.1,· tile in· terests of the W \ \ I .