Abimbola Akosile
2 September 2008
Lagos — The management of Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc, a leading cement manufacturer, has reiterated that its proposed new plants will comply with both Nigeria and international standard in terms of impact on the environment.
The company disclosed this during an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) review meeting conducted by the Federal Ministry of Environment, Housing and Urban Development, for the company's proposed cement and coal processing plants, which held at Abeokuta, Ogun State.
This explanation was contained in a statement issued by Lafarge WAPCO's head of public relations, (Mrs.) Temitope Oguntokun.
The group's Sustainability Development Manager, Mr. Yakubu Yusuf told the panel, comprising of experts such as engineers, geologists economists, mining and air quality specialists, that the new plants will adopt a dry process and bag filter technology which will aid in dust control during production.
According to him, "we will equally adopt other measures, such as construction and clearing of necessary channels to check issues of flooding. As part of our expansion project, we have plans to build a trailer park that will conveniently take about 600 trucks".
"As a company, we carry out manufacturing in compliance with enabling federal laws in Nigeria, such as the Blasting Ordinance. Our operations are also guided by the Lafarge Group standard, which conforms to international standards in cement production. We believe our host communities will embrace us more with the new technologies which is much better in terms of dust control", Yusuf said.
Earlier, the Minister for Environment, Housing and Urban Development, Hajia Halima Tayo Alao represented by Dr. N.G Ekeh had commended the management of Lafarge WAPCO for its eagerness to comply with the statutory EIA requirement before commencement of its proposed new cement factories.
Continuing, Alao said, "in compliance with the requirement of the EIA Act of 1992, Lafarge WAPCO has submitted copies of the EIA for its proposed new lines. From our visits to the existing facilities and the proposed new lines, the project is laudable because it will go a long way to bring down the price of cement. It will also provide employment opportunities for Nigerians.
The minister emphasised that the essence of the review is not to stall or stop any project or business but to ensure that such projects are environmentally friendly.
"EIA needs to be done in order to ameliorate the potential environmental hazards of projects such as Lafarge's. Members of the public can be rest assured that the Ministry for Environment will continue to monitor the project until completion", he said.
The Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge WAPCO, Mr. George Lourandos recently revealed that the company would witness an increase in its capacity with its ongoing expansion project.
According to him, "recent decision has been taken to deploy by end of 2010 a new 2.2 million metric tonnes line, which will increase the aggregate Lafarge WAPCO capacity to 4.2 million metric tonnes. The company currently has a capacity of 2.0 million metric tonnes through its two plants at Ewekoro and Sagamu".
Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc is a leading manufacturer and marketer of cement. With a state-of-the-art plant in Ewekoro, the company manufactures Elephant Cement, a brand that has consistently won the NIS Certificate for product quality by the Nigerian Standard Organisation (NSO) for over two decades.
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