Owners of Faulty Vehicles, Generators To Face Jail Term

The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), on Wednesday, threatened to jail owners of faulty vehicles and generators that cause air pollution for failure to fix the mechanical problems.

The Director-General of NESREA, Prof. Aliyu Jauro, who stated this in Abuja via the first virtual induction workshop for newly accredited Environmental Consultants, said the owners would also be barred from using the vehicle and generator, or given an option of fine or a combination of jail and fine depending on the gravity of the offense.

He said the agency would monitor emissions from mobile (vehicles) and stationery (generators) sources and ensure that the owners complied with the stipulated environmental guidelines.

While noting that plans were underway to launch the National Vehicular Emission Control Programme (NVECP) and the National Generator Emission Control Programme (NGECP), to address air pollution, he said the agency will not hesitate to deregister and withdraw the license of consultants involved in poor inspection of environmental facilitates across the States.

“Let me use this forum to inform you that environmental consultancy is not an all-comers affair, neither is it a ‘quick-cash carry go’ business.

“Your role is to provide independent, credible and objective verification of information on facilities, with respect to their activities and impact on the environment in line with extant regulations,” he said.

He urged the inductees to be aware of the trend in the environment sector and assist in enforcing the compliance of environmental laws as well as promote good environmental governance in Nigeria.

The DG pointed out that NESREA was ready to partner with them in fulfilling one of its roles as environmental adviser, adding that they should encourage their clients to adopt environmental best practices.

He, however, noted that sensitisation is key to voluntary compliance of environmental laws, promising to facilitate a cleaner and healthier environment for Nigerians in collaboration with stakeholders.