By Kemi Olatunde
Effective waste management and drainage system as well as acquisition of more land to cater for parking space must be put in place for sustainability of hospitality facilities and to facilitate peaceful coexistence among residents of the host community.
These were some of the recommendations from the panel review meeting on Post Environmental Impact Assessment(PEIA) of St. Jacob Hotel, Alagbaka Akure.
Consultant to the state government on PEIA and panel chairman, Dr. Ayodele Ayeni who described the event as one targeted at protecting the of residents of the area and encouraging peace and harmony between the hotel and its neighbours.
While calling for the protection of people’s health, he said that the security of the area should be adequately looked into noting that majority of them were of old age.
However, he assured that the exercise will be based on honesty.
Making a presentation on the facility, Consultant to the facility, Gbolabo Osunsanmi said that the facility has brought about an increase in the state’s population noting that measures have been put in place to ensure that its operation did not tamper with the relative peace in the state.
He said that its presence in the community has not caused any epidermic outbreak noting that there was no pollution found in its water.
Representative of the Federal Ministry of Environment, Mr. Temiyemi Olusegun explained that it was the responsibility of all to make use of the environment and advised intending business outfits to go through Environmental Impact Assessment before setting them up.
Residents of the area including a retired Permanent Secretary in the state, Mrs Mosun Adesuyi, Mr Gabriel Akinyemi, Mrs Koledoye, Eric Perekenigha and Daniel Ogunmusi called on government to do the needful on other hotels springing up in the state.
They frowned at the attitude of the owner to neglect them before constructing the facility noting that there have been insecurity, air and noise pollution among others in the area.
They berated the presentation of Osunsanmi stating that what obtained in the community was the direct opposite of all he presented.
In his opening remarks, Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Sunday Akinwalire explained that EIA was designed to evaluate in advance the possible impacts of a proposed developmental project on the environment in order to proffer measures for mitigating the adverse impacts that may occur.
