Lagos State Government yesterday restated that obtaining an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval is a must for all projects developments across the state.
The Special Adviser on Environment, Olakunle Rotimi-Akodu, made this known during a Stakeholders’ Engagement Workshop Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Practitioners in Real Estate Sector and Projects Developers in Lagos State, held in Ikeja.
According to him, all developers/builders must subject their projects to EIA process before their commencement.
He said estate development building projects include five-floors building and above, eight apartments units and above, shopping malls, filling stations, industrial facilities, sand mining projects, dredging, land reclamation, among others.
He said the state government would not hesitate to enforce compliance in the overriding interest of ensuring public safety and sustainable development when necessary.
He said EIA was a critical environmental management tool that must be embraced by private and public sectors (stakeholders in real estate sector) in order to achieve sustainable development.
He noted that the state had remained the most preferred destination for investors/ businesses in Nigeria, adding that this was attributed to the growing population, which provided a huge market for goods and services; modern infrastructure as well as sound policies, which had continued to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.
The Permanent Secretary, Office of Environmental Services, Dr. Tajudeen Gaji, said the workshop was not only apt, but also timely, coming at a time all hands must be on deck to ensure sustainable development in the state.
“EIA is a critical safeguard instrument that has been adopted across the globe as a tool for protecting the environment and public health.
‘’It has as its objective, early identification of likely impacts both adverse and beneficial that can result from a proposed project and proffering appropriate measures to either eliminate, reduce or mitigate the adverse impacts,” he said.
The Director, Environmental Assessment Department, Dr. Olasunkanmi Sojinu, said EIA process was backed by the EIA Act CAP E12 LFN 2024 and the Lagos State Environmental Management and protection Law 2017, which made it mandatory for major developments to subject such to the EIA process and obtain appropriate approval before commencement.