Politics
SOME stakeholders on environment have urged the Enugu State Government to decommission mining sites that have become moribund and dangerous for communities in order to protect lives.
The stakeholders made the call on Thursday during a Town hall and Media Interactive Discussion on Coal Mining in Enugu.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was organised by Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), in collaboration with New Life Community Care Initiative (NELCCI), Neighborhood Environmental Watch (NEW) Foundation and Community Development Advocacy Foundation (CODAF).
Speaking during the event, Mr Philip Jakpor, the Executive Director, RDI, said the call became necessary as it was a standard practice that once a mine became moribund, it would be decommissioned and the environment rehabilitated.
He said the situation had gone on for decades while the lands in the mining communities had become overgrown with weeds and taken over by reptiles.
Jakpor disclosed that in many cases, the communities would experience earth collapsing while farming; open pits, ground water polluted and overrun by herders who used the sites for grazing.
“We decided to organise this engagement that has locals from Okpara, Onyeama Iva Valley Coal mining communities in Enugu to x-ray the status and impacts of coal mining in state.
“We want to also let media know about the planned commencement of mining activities by the Enugu Government at the time that the global community was embracing clean energy.
“Our worry is that nearly 70 years of coal mining activity did not leave any positive legacy for Enugu either on the state finances, environment or in the lives of the formers coal miners.’’
While calling for profiling of the former miners for payment of compensation, the executive director said many of them who survived the work hazard lived in squalor, deprivation and regret.
“It is on this premise that we believe rather than promoting investment in dirty energy, the Enugu State Government should be vanguard for calls for just energy transition that respects people and their environment.
“We also demand that they inform and update Enugu people on what is going on in mining sites; make public any agreement they make with company mining coals in the communities as well as conduct environmental impact assessment by the selected firms,” he said.
The Director of CODAF, Ubrei Maimoni, said that continuous mining had posed great impacts in the social and economic lives of the affected communities with enormous interest of the multinational that engaged in it.
He revealed that their activities affected food production and land appreciation and called for comprehensive environment management to create clean energy.
In a remark, Dr Kelechi Okezie, an environmentalist and Executive Director, NEW, urged Enugu government to invest in clean and renewable energy sources like hydropower and solar energy to drive its domestic and industrial needs.
Also, the Executive Director, NELCCI, Mrs Florence Ifeanyi-Aneke, said there were trailer loads of coals leaving Enugu on daily basis.
She stressed the need to identify if those mining coal in the state were working for the government or individuals.
“If it is government, we should know the Internal Generated Revenue coming from it and if they are individuals, government should fish them out.
“The issue of mining affects women in a special way as majority of them were farmers who are being denied access to their farmlands and economic livelihood,” she said.
Meanwhile, some of the former coal miners who spoke at the forum, expressed disappointment over maltreatment.
They said that after many years of working under poor conditions, while some died due to work hazard, the surviving ones among them were disengaged, denied benefits and chased out of the coal mining quarters in Enugu.
Mr Mathew Ani, who was recruited into mining in 1975, said that they were not taken care of.
He added that he was being owed 30 months pension. (NAN)
A.I
Aug. 23, 2024
Tags: Dr Kelechi Okezie Mr Mathew Ani Mr Philip Jakpor Mrs Florence Ifeanyi-Aneke NELCCI Ubrei Maimoni
