The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has stressed the importance of carrying out Environmental Impact Assessment, EIA, as well as Health, Safety and Environment, HSE, on its projects in the Niger Delta region.
Addressing consultants at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, during an Open Forum between the Commission’s Department of Environmental Protection and Control, EPC, the Director, Mr. Kevin Uwakwe, observed that the wellbeing of Niger Delta people was paramount.
Uwakwe, who was represented by the Deputy Director, EPC, Mr. Onoriode Omo-Udoyo, stated: “The EIA study is expected to provide a discourse on the socio-cultural, economic and religious status of the people and also determine how the entire project will positively or negatively impact the perceived values in the project environment, while the HSE/EMP monitoring highlights existing health and demographic profiles and areas that may need supportive infrastructure and facilities. “
He further stated that the EIA Reports for NDDC’s major projects were meant to elicit the needs and expectations from the environmental consultants. “We want to ensure that we fully address the impact, positively or negatively, ” he said.
In her presentation, Assistant Director, EPC, Mrs. Eno Ukpe, said that the Commission would want the EPC/HSE consultants to come up with templates for monitoring the projects under their supervision. She remarked that staff of the NDDC’s EPC Department had been assigned to the consultants to ease their interactions with the Commission.
Making a presentation on the streamlined EIA reporting processes, an Ecopreneur, Dr. George Daniel Smile, noted that the primary goal of an Environmental Impact Assessment Report was to determine the impact of a project on the environment and the community, whether positive or negative. He noted that Environmental Monitoring Plan, EMP, was essential for verifying the Environmental Impact Assessment Report.