Following a motion moved by Mr. Lawrence Chukwuwike Ezeudu of Dunukofia state constituency of Anambra State calling on Governor Willie Obiano to issue an executive order prohibiting unauthorised excavation of laterite, stones and local sharp sand at the defunct Oba airport site Idemili-South and also prosecute defaulters henceforth, the state Assembly has set up a Special Taskforce Committee on Environmental Degradation.
The committee, which was inaugurated on Thursday, is being headed by the House Committee Chairman on Housing and Chief Whip, Lawrence Chukwuwike Ezeudu.
The committee was expected to liaise with relevant ministries and agencies to guard against all man-made ecological issues in the state.
Ezeudu said that the committee would produce a roadmap on how the ecosystem in Anambra would be handled henceforth, although he frowned at illegal mining activities and sand excavation going on across the state, attributing such unwholesome activities to some of the remote causes of erosion devastations in the state.
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Chairman, State Assembly Committee on Environment and member of the Special Taskforce Team, Mr. Edward Obiefuna Ibuzo, noted that 70% of land in Anambra State was being threatened by erosion menace, stressing that erosion must be taken as serious as COVID-19 pandemic.
Ibuzo opined that setting up a Special Taskforce on Environmental Degradation was a bold step taken in the right direction because he believed there was a dire need to protect the public from both natural and man-made ecological problems.
He also explained that there was need for the legislature and the executive to work in synergy to protect the environment, noting that inspite of warnings from the Ministry of Environment for people to stop illegal excavation at the defunct Oba airport, it had continued unabated.
