FG Disburses Over N47bn To Tackle Erosion, Watershed ChallengesMinister

The Federal Government said it disbursed over N47 billion to tackle erosion and watershed management in the country.The Minister of Environment, Hajiya Amina Mohammed, stated this in Lafia on Thursday in a keynote address at the 10th National Council on Environment.Mohammed said the fund ($135 million) being disbursed under the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Programme (NEWMAP) was being done in collaboration with the World Bank.She said the programme had been expanded from seven to 19 states to enable the government to tackle challenges of land use and watershed management.So far, works have reached 75 per cent completion in 21 sites of the initial seven states of the programme and we are looking at commissioning them by December.We have commenced payment of livelihood of sub-grants to the tune of N200 million, identified and compensated 984 people affected by the project,Mohammed said.She explained that the 14 additional states had satisfied all conditions required for the commencement of the full implementation of the project.On efforts to curb deforestation, Mohammed said the ministry had produced a policy proposal to be discussed with all stakeholders, with a view to banning the use of firewwood as fuel in commercial ventures.She said Nigeria is losing thousands of trees daily from illegal logging and increase use of firewood.The minister stated that government had suspended the exportation of semi-processed wood earlier this year and had to lift the ban following series of consultations with stakeholders.She said the proposal provided various alternatives to the use of firewwood by Nigerians and would help to check deforestation and the attendant environmental effects.She expressed the hope that adoption of the proposal would lead to the eventual ban on the use of firewood. (NAN)
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