Ministry issues EIA certificate to ACETEL over building policy compliance

Representatives from the Federal Ministry of Environment, the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) as well as the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) have visited the Africa Centre of Excellence on Technology Enhanced Learning (ACETEL) on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, to inspect the ongoing building construction project.

The trio’s visit was aimed at ensuring that site activities were in compliance with the World Bank and National Building policies.

The ministry’s team who had visited earlier in March, 2024 for the Impact Mitigation Exercise on the building site, returned to the site for a follow-up inspection to verify the current status of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

ACETEL director, Prof. Grace Jokthan led the team to visit the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olufemi Peters, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Technology, Innovation and Research (TIR), Prof. Godwin Akper.

The VC confirmed to the team that there is a contracted waste disposal for the site, as concerns were raised regarding waste management on the site.

Peters emphasised the need to maintain quality, citing it as a standard in NOUN, and thanked the team for asking ACETEL to pick up the EIA certificate.

On his part, the DVC Academic, Prof. Chiedu Mafiena, also thanked the team for visiting to ensure environmental management, noting that when the university’s council held a meeting the issue of environmental management was taken into cognisance.

He expressed hope that the ministry will continue to be a partner in progress, while thanking ACETEL and its consultants for their efforts.

Earlier, during the teams’ visit to ACETEL, the director briefed them on how far the building construction project has gone, and how the centre has been able to put in place and enforce compliance in areas identified by the ministry deemed not in compliance with the site rules.

The leader of the ministry’s team, Mrs. Patricia, asked questions regarding the construction site to ascertain adherence to site policy.

While giving his report to the team, the ACETEL Health, Safety and Environmental Officer (HSE) Consultant, Omotunde Temitope, said the the current status of the EIA for the air, the soil, water, the top soil, the sub soil, the ground water and surface water were all within the limit specified by the ministry.