The Chairman of Rivers State House of Assembly Committee on Environment, Kingsley Ahiakwo, has called for proactive action that will ensure safe environment.
Ahiakwo, who represents Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Constituency I in the assembly, called on decision makers to perform their over-sight recording environmental issues in Nigeria.
He stressed that if checks are done on the decision makers from the federal to the local government level, there would be improvement in the nation’s environmental impact assessment and protection.
Ahiakwo stated this recently in Port Harcourt at a validation and capacity building session on ‘Influencing Decision Makers’ organised by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC).
He said, “Decision makers need to be checked right from the federal level to the local government level on their activities and involvement in environmental issues.”
“So many private and government agencies make conflicting laws on environment, which leads to delay in achieving success in environmental concentration,” he said.
He urged CISLAC to extend its capacity training to the state House of Assembly, stressing that “if they are properly trained, you may be changing the mentality of the members on their perception on the environmental impact assessment.”
