Community Advocacy Development Foundation, CODAF, a nongovernmental organisation, has decried the high spate of indiscriminate sand dredging in Niger Delta, which he said was hurting the ecosystem of the oil-rich region.

Executive Director of CODAF, Mr. Richard Benin, while reacting to the development, warned that buildings around dredging sites could start having cracks in the next 10 or more years if the trend continues unchecked. Berating Ministry of Environment in Niger Delta states for not taking the issue of indiscriminate sand dredging seriously, he said: “All along the East West Road, you see dredging sites on both sides of the road. I wonder who gives these people licences to carry out these dredging activities. “Once there is a small water anywhere, they just bring in their dredger, put it there and start lifting sand without taking cognizance of the negative impact of their actions on the environment.

“For you to carry out such activity, you need an Environmental Impact Assessment, Environmental Impact and Social Assessment of whatever you want to do in the environment. “These people don’t do that, they just bring the machine, fell trees, create access and start to dredge. Now felling of trees, that’s degradation of the ecosystem and there is noise pollution.

“These machines use oil, fuel and diesel and they spill into the water thereby increasing the pH level of the water, thereby affecting the organisms that thrive in the water. ".

This report was written by Ochuko Akuopha and published on page 4 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2023.