FCTA seals 2,000 facilities for poor environment standards

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has sealed up to 2,491 facilities and sites in the territory for non-compliance with Environmental Impact Assessment/Environmental Audit (EIA/EA) regulations.

FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed, made this disclosure after a meeting with some senior officials of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board recently in his office.

Chief Press Secretary to the FCT Minister, Muhammad Sule, in a press release, quoted the minister as saying some of the facilities were sealed due to default in payment of service charges and other environmental offences between January and April 2014.

Mohammed revealed that a new FCT Policy Guideline on Solid Waste Management is being packaged and stakeholders will soon brainstorm on its review, preparatory to its approval by the FCT Executive Committee (EXCO).

The minister remarked that the FCT Resident Sanitation Forum has been resuscitated with the objectives of increasing general awareness and full participation of the residents in environmental protection programmes.

According to him, 3,195 premises were inspected and given health talk on the importance of sanitation, while 93 premises were fumigated in the process.

Mohammed warned that hard times await environmental offenders as government is poised to rid Abuja of all environmental nuisances.