Business
Coalition Undertakes N50m Mangrove Project In C’ River
A non-governmental organization, the Nigeria Coalition for Environment (NCE), said that it has commenced work on a project that would protect the mangrove eco-system in parts of Cross River.
Executive Director of the coalition, Mr. Edin Usang, made the disclosure to newsmen in Calabar, recently.
He said that the project, named “Integrated Mangrove Forest Management Programme”, is estimated to cost N50 million and being executed in collaboration with Concern Universal, an international donor agency.
Usang said that work on the project, which began in 2009 was expected to be completed in 2013.
He added that the mangrove protection project was one of the numerous projects the NGO had undertaken in the area in collaboration with donor agencies to protect the forest.
“The first project that we undertook in this area was between 2003 and 2007, and it was at the cost of N20 million, and we collaborated with the Canadian International Development Agency.
“Last year, we undertook a small one, which lasted for only six months and cost us about 50,000 Canadian Dollars,’’ the NCE executive director said.
Usang said that the organisation was working hard in persuading forest communities in the state to protect and preserve the environment for future generations.
“We try to let them know the importance of preserving the environment for the benefit of mankind.
“We also introduce them to alternative means of livelihood within the same environment,” he said.
Usang disclosed that NCE had, for instance, discovered that there were more than 25 edible mushrooms in Cross River forests “and these are non-timber products”.
He said that the coalition had thus encouraged the domestication of most of the mushrooms and certain bush animals to provide a source of minerals and proteins for members of the communities.
“We are also trying to discourage the forest communities in the state from depending much on firewood and this we do by producing and providing “wood stoves” to them as an alternative.
“We started this when we discovered that the communities use firewood excessively because the forest is in their backyard, and we designed the wood stoves to consume less firewood.
“We trained some of them on how to make the stoves and today so many of them make the stoves by themselves,” Usang said.
He added that the NGO could do more for the communities and government if it, however, secured adequate funding.
The NCE official regretted the lack of adequate government funding for the takeover of the projects.
Business
NAFDAC Decries Circulation Of Prohibited Food Items In markets …….Orders Vendors’ Immediate Cessation Of Dealings With Products
Importers, market traders, and supermarket operators have therefore, been directed to immediately cease all dealings in these items and to notify their supply chain partners to halt transactions involving prohibited products.
The agency emphasized that failure to comply will attract strict enforcement measures, including seizure and destruction of goods, suspension or revocation of operational licences, and prosecution under relevant laws.
The statement said “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing incidence of smuggling, sale, and distribution of regulated food products such as pasta, noodles, sugar, and tomato paste currently found in markets across the country.
“These products are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are not permitted for importation”.
NAFDAC also called on other government bodies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Shippers Council, and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), to collaborate in enforcing the ban on these unsafe products.
